Soccer-Son scores twice to down China as Koreans maintain perfect record

Son Heung-min scored twice and set up the third as South Korea handed China a 3-0 defeat in Shenzhen on Tuesday to complete back-to-back wins at the start of their challenge for a place at the 2026 World Cup finals. Son put the Koreans in front in the Group C clash in the second phase of Asia's preliminaries with an 11th minute penalty after Hwang Hee-chan had been fouled in the area, steering his spot kick low to the right of Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling.

Son Heung-min scored twice and set up the third as South Korea handed China a 3-0 defeat in Shenzhen on Tuesday to complete back-to-back wins at the start of their challenge for a place at the 2026 World Cup finals.

Son put the Koreans in front in the Group C clash in the second phase of Asia's preliminaries with an 11th minute penalty after Hwang Hee-chan had been fouled in the area, steering his spot kick low to the right of Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling. He added the second in the final minute of the first half with a header that looped over Yan from the edge of the six-yard box following Lee Kang-in's corner.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward turned provider three minutes from time when he drifted in a free kick from the right that Jung Seung-hyun headed past Yan to put the seal on the victory. The win keeps the Koreans perfect after the first two games in the second round of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup and was China's first defeat after winning against Thailand on Thursday.

The Thais bounced back from that loss to beat Singapore 3-1 loss with Suphanat Mueanta scoring twice in the second half for Mano Polking's team, who move level with China on three points. Mohanad Ali scored six minutes into injury time to earn Iraq a 1-0 win over hosts Vietnam in Group F as Jesus Casas' side moved onto six points.

Vietnam remain in second in the group standings after the Philippines and Indonesia shared a 1-1 draw in Manila. Jong Il Gwan scored a hat-trick as North Korea picked up their first win of the campaign with a 6-1 thrashing of Myanmar in Yangon having started their quest for a place at the finals last Thursday with a draw against Syria in Group B.

Tajikistan also won 6-1 with Amadoni Kamolov hitting a brace in their victory over Pakistan in Group G in Islamabad. Hong Kong twice came back from behind to draw 2-2 with Turkmenistan with Everton Camargo scoring midway through the second half to secure a point after Ruslan Mingazow had scored both goals for the visitors in Group E.

Substitute Darren Lok claimed the only goal as Malaysia defeated Taiwan in Taipei in Group D and Bangladesh and Lebanon shared a 1-1 draw in Group I in Dhaka. Saudi Arabia will be looking to follow up their opening win over Pakistan with another victory when they take on Jordan in Amman later in the day in Group G while Bahrain host the United Arab Emirates in Group H and Afghanistan meet Kuwait in Group A.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)