North Korea pulls out of World Cup qualifiers — after Olympics withdrawal

One month after withdrawing from the Olympics, North Korea has pulled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The country did not provide a reason for pulling out of the qualifiers.

The development was announced by the Asian Football Confederation in a statement on Sunday.

“The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today confirmed the withdrawal of the DPR Korea Football Association from the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023,” the statement reads.

“The matter will now be referred to the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions and further details on the standings in Group H, which include current leaders Turkmenistan, centralised venue hosts Korea Republic, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, will be announced in due course.”

South Korea was due to host North Korea, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka in the remaining Group H matches of the second round of Asia’s preliminary tournament in June.

There have been no qualifiers in Asia since November 2019 and in order to cut down on travel, the AFC has ruled that all group matches in the second round of qualification will be played in hubs.

North and South Korea are tied with 8 points and fourth in the group with Lebanon. They are a point behind Turkmenistan, the group leader.