The 2026 K League season has just started to hit its stride, and FC Seoul is top of the league after winning its first four games, but now attention turns to other matters: an international break. Not the Women’s Asian Cup. South Korea reached the semifinal last week but was beaten by Japan, the eventual champion. There is no shame in that, and in fact, there were reasons to be cheerful about what happened in Australia. The continental title remains elusive — the team got to the final in 2022 — but on the way to the last four, Korea looked pretty good. It’s never fun to lose a semifinal, but there were positive signs, not least that the team qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. But the focus is now on the men’s World Cup this summer, where the Taegeuk Warriors are in a group with co-host Mexico, South Africa and a European team that will qualify through the playoffs at the end of this month. On paper, it is an open group, and Korea has a real chance of getting through to the knockout rounds, especially as 32 of the 48 teams competing in North America will advance. There
