Korea Republic head coach Hong Myung-bo expressed confidence in his team's preparations as the Taegeuk Warriors entered the final stages of training ahead of their opening match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

On June 6 local time (June 7 KST), Korea held a FIFA Community Training Session at Chivas Verde Valle in Guadalajara, Mexico. The open training event allowed local supporters to watch the team train, continuing FIFA’s long-standing World Cup tradition of giving fans access to national team sessions.

Hong and his squad arrived in North America on May 18 and spent several weeks preparing at a training camp in Salt Lake City, located 1,460 meters above sea level. During the camp, Korea played friendly matches against Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador while adapting to high-altitude conditions before traveling to Guadalajara on June 6.

Preparation for matches in Guadalajara has been a major focus for the Korean coaching staff. The city sits at an altitude of 1,571 meters, and Korea will play two of its group-stage matches there against Czechia and host nation Mexico.

Altitude was a key factor in selecting Korea’s World Cup base camp. The team established its headquarters at Chivas Verde Valle, approximately 2.5 kilometers from Estadio Guadalajara, giving the squad valuable time to acclimatize to local conditions. The setup is viewed as a significant advantage, particularly compared to Czechia, which only secured qualification in April, and even hosts Mexico.

Speaking before training, Hong highlighted the importance of the coming days.

“We arrived from Salt Lake City yesterday and spent our first night in Guadalajara. Today is our first training session here,” Hong said. “As you know, this is an open training session, so it will be a great opportunity to interact with the local fans before the World Cup begins.”

“We have about four days to train here, and the sessions on June 7, 8 and 9 will be the most important.”

Hong also explained that Korea had gained valuable insights from its two pre-tournament friendlies and would use the remaining preparation period to further refine the squad.

“The two friendly matches revealed both our strengths and weaknesses. The most important thing now is to make the team more complete during the remaining period,” he said.

“The players already understand the playing model and ideas we want to implement. Over the next three days, we will focus intensively on improving combinations and partnerships between players.”

Korea will continue preparations in Guadalajara as they build toward the start of their World Cup campaign, with Hong aiming to fine-tune his preferred combinations before the opening match.