Football Bet of the Day: Back goals with World Cup looming large | OneFootball

Iraq v South Korea

Rock-bottom Stocksund kept their first clean sheet of the season in Sweden last night, as their 1-0 win over high-flying Nordic left us scratching our heads.

We'll switch our focus to the Asian section of World Cup qualifying now, with places up for grabs at next year's big dance in North America, and the expanded nature of the tournament giving some countries the chance to revive their fortunes.

Iraq haven't qualified for the finals since 1986, and they are only a point off the top two, which is the automatic qualification zone. However, Iraq have hit something of a bump in the road of late, winning just one of their last five qualifiers after harvesting seven points from the opening three matchdays.

That said, a win here for Iraq would actually take them to within a point of the group leaders South Korea, and former Australia coach Graham Arnold has plenty of experience. The one thing Iraq are usually good for is a goal - they have found the net in seven of their last nine internationals.

South Korea are unbeaten since coach Hong Myung-Bo returned for another spell in charge, and they have won four and drawn four of their eight qualifiers in this section. A win here could secure qualification with a game to spare if other results go their way. Spurs star Heung-Min Son is likely to lead the line and win an extraordinary 134th cap.

For our purposes it's worth noting that South Korea have been finding clean sheets hard to come by of late. Their last five qualifiers have seen both teams find the net, and the reverse fixture saw South Korea run out 3-2 winners.