Matchday 6 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers will see Korea DPR take the field against Uzbekistan at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos this Tuesday.
This third round matchup will be an important one for Uzbekistan, who will be looking to stay ahead of UAE and Qatar in second place in Group A. Currently on 10 points through 5 matches, Uzbekistan have had 3 wins,1 draw and 1 loss, suffering their first defeat in 9 games against Qatar last week. The only team ahead of Uzbekistan in Group A is Iran on 13 points, going undefeated in the first 5 matches with 4 wins and 1 draw.
While at the moment Uzbekistan are well placed in their hunt for a top 2 finish in their group, a loss to North Korea could end up being a big blow to their hopes.
Korea DPR has not fared well in the qualifiers thus far, not managing to post a win in their 5 matches. They are on 2 points right now, with two draws and three losses, their latest coming versus Iran, 3-2.
While it seems unlikely that North Korea will be able to make a run for one of the top 2 places, they are mathematically not out of it yet. To have any chance however, they will need to secure a win on the 19th against a team that has been in great form this year.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan have had a relatively easy journey so far in the World Cup qualifiers, running into their first real adversity in last week against Qatar at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. They started off the qualifiers with a 1-0 win over Korea DPR and then went on to beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 to push themselves to the top of the leaderboard.
They were then held to a scoreless draw against Iran before taking on UAE, who they were able to take down 1-0 at home. Their latest match against Qatar was their first loss after an 8 game undefeated streak, losing 3-2 despite the heroics of Abbosbek Fayzullaev, who had 2 goals. It was an especially crushing loss as Uzbekistan had managed to level the scoreline in the 80th minute after initially trailing 2-0 by the 41st minute. A late goal however in stoppage time led to heartbreaking loss.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan’s away form has been impressive, with 7 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their 11 most recent fixtures on the road.
Korea DPR
North Korea had high hopes for the qualifiers but have failed to deliver thus far. They started off with a 1-0 loss to Uzbekistan but then managed to draw against Qatar 2-2 in their second match. After another draw against UAE, they have been handed two losses in a row, first by Kyrgyzstan and then a 3-2 loss to Iran on November 14th.
North Korea’s poor form dates back past the start of the qualifiers, as they have been defeated
in seven of their last 13 matches, winning just three and drawing three. The teams form at home has been somewhat better which will be taken as a positive heading into Tuesday. Prior to a loss last time at home, they had 3 wins in five matches which included 2 draws.
Korea DPR Vs Uzbekistan Head-to-Head and Predictions
In the first meeting between these two teams in the qualifiers on September 5th, Uzbekistan was able to pull off a narrow 1-0 victory. The overall history between the two teams is 11 meetings, where Korea DPR have won only once compared to the 8 by Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan are currently ranked 58th in the FIFA World Rankings, quite a bit above Korea DPR who are in 111th place.
Based on the history between these teams and current form, this should be a relatively easy win for Uzbekistan. North Korea has shown they will fight hard however, so this match will likely be close heading into the first half. Our prediction is a 2-0 win for Uzbekistan.
