S. Korea to face Wales in men’s football friendly in Sept.

South Korea will travel to Wales for a men’s friendly football match in September, for their first appearance in Europe under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Monday afternoon that South Korea and Wales will square off at Cardiff City Stadium in the Welsh capital on Sept. 7. The kickoff time will be determined later, the KFA added.

The match falls during the September international match window, as set by FIFA. The KFA said it is also trying to schedule a second match during the Sept. 4-12 period, and it will likely be a non-European side because most teams on the continent will be playing qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 2024.

South Korea’s previous matches in Europe took place in January 2022, when the Taegeuk Warriors faced Iceland and Moldova in the neutral country of Turkey.

The last time South Korea visited the home country of their opponents came in March 2018, when they played Northern Ireland in Belfast and Poland in the southern Polish city of Chorzow.

South Korea, world No. 27, and Wales, one spot above, have never faced each other before.

Both countries competed at last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where South Korea reached the round of 16 and Wales crashed out of the group stage in their first World Cup appearance in 64 years.

During the June window, South Korea will host Peru on June 16 in the southeastern city of Busan and then El Salvador on June 20 in the central city of Daejeon.

Klinsmann had a draw and a loss in his first two matches at the South Korean helm in March.