Son Heung-min of South Korea walks off the pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Sept. 5, after the first half of the Group B match against Palestine in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification. Yonhap

South Korea were held to a goalless draw by underdogs Palestine to begin the new phase of their World Cup qualifying campaign in Seoul on Thursday, a lethargic effort that failed to assuage a disgruntled fan base.

Captain Son Heung-min struck the crossbar in the 87th minute, one of several opportunities that 23rd-ranked South Korea couldn't convert against No. 96 Palestine in front of 59,579 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

This was the first Group B match for both teams in the third round of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. South Korea will next play 76th-ranked Oman in Muscat on Tuesday.

The other countries in Group B are Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait.

The third round will conclude in June next year. The top two teams from each of the three groups will qualify for the World Cup, while teams ranked third and fourth in their groups will move on to the fourth round for another shot at qualifying for the big tournament.

South Korea have played at every World Cup since 1986.

Thursday's match was the first for South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo in his second tour of duty. Hong previously coached the Taegeuk Warriors from 2013 to 2014, a term that ended after South Korea failed to get past the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Son earned his 128th cap in this match and is now alone in fourth place on the country's all-time list. He broke a tie with former left back Lee Young-pyo and is now five caps behind former goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae. (Yonhap)