South Korea men's football head coach Uli Stielike is scheduled to return from his vacation next week to begin preparing for the final World Cup qualification stage, the sport's national governing body said Friday.

According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), Stielike will arrive back in South Korea next Wednesday, ending his offseason break that lasted for a little over a month.

Even during his time off, Stielike attended South Korean matches at the Asian Football Confederation  U-23 Championship in Doha last month. The German native also went to see South Koreans in action in the Bundesliga.

Stielike will turn his eyes toward the final Asian qualification round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. That final stage will kick off in September, featuring 12 nations advancing from the current round. South Korea are trying to qualify for their ninth straight World Cup.

South Korea have already clinched a spot in the final round, with two matches remaining in the current stage. They have won Group G with a perfect 6-0-0 record, having scored 23 goals and given up none against Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar and Laos. South Korea will wrap things up at home against Lebanon on March 24 and then against Kuwait on March 29.

From the second round, the eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the next stage. They will then be divided into two groups of six, and the top two nations from each group will qualify for the World Cup.

The two third-place teams will clash in a home-and-away playoff, and the winner will reach the inter-confederation playoff against a contestant from the North, Central America and Caribbean for the final chance to qualify for the World Cup.

The draw for the final round will take place on April 14.

Stielike has said he'd like for South Korea to face stronger challenges than what they've recently had against Asian nations, and he hoped to schedule matches against European opponents. Based on FIFA's International Match Calendar, South Korea can schedule up to two friendly matches between May 30 and June 7.

Under Stielike, South Korea posted 16 wins and three draws against just one loss in 2015. In 17 of those 20 matches, South Korea didn't allow a goal. (Yonhap)