Match Report
18 points for Iraq (1st), 16 for Korea Republic (1st): a 2-point gap. Iraq had been under-performing their position — 43rd on five-round form against 1st in the table. Scoring rates set the scale: Iraq 2.83 scored and 0.33 conceded per game, Korea Republic 3.33 and 0.17, with the league averaging 1.4.
Korea Republic had drawn three in a row, having scored in 7 consecutive games.
The head-to-head ledger counts 5 games: 0 Iraq wins, 4 for Korea Republic, 1 draw, at 2.4 goals per meeting. Home advantage has meant little here: 40% of the meetings went to the host. 60% of the meetings finished with three goals or more.
The venue was Basra Sport City Stadium in Basra, with room for 65,000 spectators. On the scoreboard, it was 0-0 at the break; 2 second-half goals set the final 0-2.
Goal scorers
Korea Republic: Hyeon-gyu Oh (82'), Jin-gyu Kim (63')