North Korea play host to Kyrgyzstan on Thursday knowing they have already been eliminated from World Cup qualifying.

At a time when the home side sit bottom of Group A in the third round of the Asian section, the visitors need a win to realistically have any hope of remaining in the hunt for the fourth round.

Match preview

When North Korea edged their way through the second round to reach this stage, it was quickly deemed that they would struggle to advance any further in their bid for a surprise place at the World Cup.

That is how it has proven, failing to win any of their eight matches to sit bottom of the standings with just the two points, eight points adrift of fourth place.

Frustration will come from five of their six defeats being by a one-goal margin, most recently at ho

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