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South Korea at the FIFA World Cup
Overview of South Korea at the FIFA World Cup From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The South Korea national football team have appeared eleven times at the FIFA World Cup, including ten consecutive tournaments from 1986 to 2022. The team made its World Cup debut in 1954, losing both matches and finishing fourth in the group stage. South Korea's best ever result is fourth place at the 2002 tournament, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. At the tournament, South Korea eliminated Italy and Spain in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively, and thus became the first team outside Europe and the Americas to reach the semi-finals.
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Competitive record
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Team records
General records
- First match: South Korea v. Hungary, 1954 FIFA World Cup, 17 June 1954
- Biggest win: 2–0, occurred on three occasions:
- South Korea v. Poland, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 4 June 2002
- South Korea v. Greece, 2010 FIFA World Cup, 12 June 2010
- South Korea v. Germany, 2018 FIFA World Cup, 27 June 2018
- Biggest defeat: 0–9, South Korea v. Hungary, 1954 FIFA World Cup, 17 June 1954
World records
- Fastest goal conceded from kickoff
- 11 seconds, Hakan Şükür (for Turkey against South Korea), 2002
- Most goals conceded, one tournament
- 16, Hong Deok-young, 1954
- Worst goal difference, one tournament
- −16, South Korea, 1954
- Biggest margin of loss
- 9, Hungary 9–0 South Korea, 1954 (joint record)
- Biggest upset in the knockout stage, per FIFA rankings
- +34 – South Korea (ranked 40) won 2–1 over Italy (ranked 6), 2002
- Biggest upset of a defending champion, per FIFA rankings
- +56 – South Korea (ranked 57) won 2–0 over Germany (ranked 1), 2018
- Biggest upset of a top ranked team, per FIFA rankings
- +56 – South Korea (ranked 57) won 2–0 over Germany (ranked 1), 2018
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Head-to-head record
Player records
Most appearances
Top goalscorers
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Awards
South Korea is the only Asian team to ever win a team award at a FIFA World Cup when they were voted the Most Entertaining Team in 2002 after finishing in fourth place.[2] In the same year, Hong Myung-bo and Yoo Sang-chul were voted members of the All-star team.[3] They are the only two Asians ever to be named in an All-star team. Hong also received the Bronze Ball award, becoming the first Asian player ever to receive the award.[4]
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Details
Summarize
Perspective
1954 (Switzerland)
South Korea made their World Cup debut in 1954, becoming the second Asian team after Indonesia to ever enter the World Cup. Qualifying occurred in March 1954, barely one year after the end of the Korean War. Only South Korea and Japan competed for the Asian spot at the World Cup, and as the Koreans refused to give visas to their rivals and former colonizers, both qualifier games were held in Tokyo. With a squad that consisted entirely of army personnel, South Korea eliminated Japan with a 5–1 victory followed by a 2–2 draw.[5]
South Korea played games against Hungary and Turkey, losing 9–0 and 7–0 respectively. Hong Deok-young became the goalkeeper to concede the most goals in a single World Cup.[6]
| 17 June 1954 Group 2 | Hungary  | 9–0 |  South Korea | Hardturm Stadium, Zürich |
| 18:00 UTC+1 | Puskás  12', 89'Lantos 18'Kocsis 24', 36', 50'Czibor 59'Palotás 75', 83' |
Report | Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Raymond Vincenti (France) |
| 20 June 1954 Group 2 | Turkey  | 7–0 | South Korea | Charmilles Stadium, Geneva |
| 17:00 UTC+1 | Suat 10', 30' Lefter 24'Burhan 37', 64', 70'Erol 76' |
Report | Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Esteban Marino (Uruguay) |
1986 (Mexico)
South Korea started the first round of the Asian qualification against Malaysia and Nepal. After qualifying for the knockout stage as group winners of the first round, South Korea beat Indonesia and Japan in the second round and the final round, respectively. They received one of the two available World Cup spots for Asian teams.
In the World Cup finals, South Korea were allocated in group A with Argentina, Bulgaria and Italy. Their first match was against Argentina, who defeated them 3–1 with Diego Maradona playing a major role. In the match, Park Chang-sun scored the first South Korean goal in the World Cup history. South Korea drew the second match 1–1 with Bulgaria in a downpour, and lost the last group match 3–2 to defending champions Italy.
| 2 June 1986 Group A | Argentina  | 3–1 |  South Korea | Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City |
| 12:00 UTC−5 | Valdano 6', 46' Ruggeri 18' |
Report | Park Chang-sun 73' |
Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Victoriano Sánchez Arminio (Spain) |
| 5 June 1986 Group A | South Korea | 1–1 |  Bulgaria | Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City |
| 16:00 UTC−5 | Kim Jong-boo 70' |
Report | Getov 11' |
Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Fallaj Al Shanar (Saudi Arabia) |
| 10 June 1986 Group A | South Korea | 2–3 |  Italy | Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla |
| 12:00 UTC−5 | Choi Soon-ho 62' Huh Jung-moo 83' |
Report | Altobelli 17', 73' Cho Kwang-rae 82' (o.g.) |
Attendance: 20,000 Referee: David Socha (United States) |
1990 (Italy)
South Korea won the Asian qualifying competition with nine victories and two draws without a defeat. However, they lost all three group matches against Belgium, Spain and Uruguay. Hwangbo Kwan scored the only tournament goal for South Korea with a long-range shot against Spain.[7]
| 12 June 1990 Group E | Belgium  | 2–0 | South Korea | Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona |
| 17:00 UTC+2 | Degryse 53' De Wolf 64' |
Report | Attendance: 32,790 Referee: Vincent Mauro (United States) |
| 17 June 1990 Group E | South Korea | 1–3 |  Spain | Stadio Friuli, Udine |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Hwangbo Kwan 42' |
Report | Míchel 22', 61', 81' |
Attendance: 32,733 Referee: Elías Jácome (Ecuador) |
| 21 June 1990 Group E | South Korea | 0–1 |  Uruguay | Stadio Friuli, Udine |
| 17:00 UTC+2 | Report | Fonseca 90' |
Attendance: 29,039 Referee: Tullio Lanese (Italy) |
1994 (United States)
In the final round of the Asian qualification, the top two countries could advance to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but South Korea was one point behind Japan and Saudi Arabia prior to playing the last qualifier against North Korea. South Korea couldn't qualify for the World Cup without a help of other countries. An Iraqi forward Jaffar Omran scored the equaliser in the last seconds of the match against Japan, and their match ended in a 2–2 draw.[8] In their match, South Korea defeated North Korea 3–0, finishing with the same number of points as Japan. Conclusionally, South Korea succeeded in getting a World Cup ticket with a better goal difference than Japan,[8] and this result was called the "Miracle of Doha" in South Korea.[9]
At the 1994 World Cup, South Korea made tight games with Spain and Bolivia, but they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 3–2 to Germany.
| 17 June 1994 Group C | Spain | 2–2 | South Korea | Cotton Bowl, Dallas |
| 18:35 CDT (UTC–5) | Salinas 51' Goikoetxea 55' |
Report | Hong Myung-bo 85' Seo Jung-won 90' |
Attendance: 56,247 Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) |
| 23 June 1994 Group C | South Korea | 0–0 |  Bolivia | Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough |
| 19:35 EDT (UTC–4) | Report | Attendance: 54,453 Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland) |
| 27 June 1994 Group C | Germany  | 3–2 | South Korea | Cotton Bowl, Dallas |
| 15:05 CDT (UTC–5) | Klinsmann 12', 37' Riedle 20' |
Report | Hwang Sun-hong 52' Hong Myung-bo 63' |
Attendance: 63,998 Referee: Joël Quiniou (France) |
1998 (France)
South Korea's former star player Cha Bum-kun managed the national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the first half of the first match against Mexico, Ha Seok-ju scored the opening goal with a free kick, but he was sent off for an ill-advised tackle three minutes later.[10] In the second half, South Korea failed to defend their 1–0 lead as Mexico scored three goals. They lost 5–0 to the Netherlands in the following match, and Cha was fired after the match.[11] The assistant manager Kim Pyung-seok replaced Cha, leading a 1–1 draw with Belgium.[12]
| 13 June 1998 Group E | South Korea  | 1–3 |  Mexico | Stade Gerland, Lyon |
| 17:30 UTC+2 | Ha Seok-ju 28' |
Report | Peláez 51' Hernández 74', 84' |
Attendance: 39,100 Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria) |
| 20 June 1998 Group E | Netherlands  | 5–0 | South Korea | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Cocu 38' Overmars 42'Bergkamp 71'van Hooijdonk 80'R. de Boer 83' |
Report | Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Ryszard Wójcik (Poland) |
| 25 June 1998 Group E | Belgium | 1–1 | South Korea | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| 16:00 UTC+2 | Nilis 7' |
Report | Yoo Sang-chul 71' |
Attendance: 45,500 Referee: Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil) |
2002 (South Korea and Japan)
South Korea was one of the host nations of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, along with Japan. Led by Dutch manager Guus Hiddink and his countryman Pim Verbeek, South Korean team won their first group match against Poland, achieving their first-ever World Cup victory.[13] Afterwards, they drew 1–1 with the United States in the following match and furthermore,[14] they defeated Portugal 1–0 in the last group match,[15] qualifying for the knockout stage as the group winners.[16]
In the round of 16, South Korea defeated Italy 2–1 after extra time,[17] although there were controversial refereeing decisions including Francesco Totti's second yellow card and an offside decision against Damiano Tommasi.[18] South Korea also defeated Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals,[19] surpassing North Korea's result in 1966. However, their run was halted by losing 1–0 to Germany in the semi-finals.[20] They finished fourth in the tournament after losing 3–2 to Turkey in the third place match.[21][22] Team captain Hong Myung-bo won the Bronze Ball award.
| 4 June 2002 Group D | South Korea | 2–0 |  Poland | Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Busan |
| 20:30 UTC+9 | Hwang Sun-hong 26' Yoo Sang-chul 53' |
(Report) | Attendance: 48,760 Referee: Oscar Ruíz (Colombia) |
| 10 June 2002 Group D | South Korea | 1–1 |  United States | Daegu World Cup Stadium, Daegu |
| 15:30 UTC+9 | Ahn Jung-hwan 78' |
(Report) | Mathis 24' |
Attendance: 60,778 Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland) |
| 14 June 2002 Group D | Portugal  | 0–1 | South Korea | Incheon Munhak Stadium, Incheon |
| 20:30 UTC+9 | (Report) | Park Ji-sung 70' |
Attendance: 50,239 Referee: Ángel Sánchez (Argentina) |
| 18 June 2002 Round of 16 | South Korea | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Italy | Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon |
| 20:30 UTC+9 | Seol Ki-hyeon 88' Ahn Jung-hwan  117' |
Report | Vieri 18' |
Attendance: 38,588 Referee: Byron Moreno (Ecuador) |
| 22 June 2002 Quarter-finals | Spain | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | South Korea | Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Gwangju |
| 15:30 UTC+9 | Report | Attendance: 42,114 Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt) | ||
| Penalties | ||||
Hierro  Baraja Xavi Joaquín  |
Hwang Sun-hong Park Ji-sung Seol Ki-hyeon Ahn Jung-hwan Hong Myung-bo |
|||
| 25 June 2002 Semi-finals | Germany | 1–0 | South Korea | Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul |
| 20:30 UTC+9 | Ballack 75' |
Report | Attendance: 65,256 Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland) |
| 29 June 2002 Third place match | South Korea | 2–3 | Turkey | Daegu World Cup Stadium, Daegu |
| 20:00 UTC+9 | Lee Eul-yong 9' Song Chong-gug 90+3' |
Report | Hakan Şükür 1' İlhan 13', 32' |
Attendance: 63,483 Referee: Saad Mane (Kuwait) |
2006 (Germany)
Former manager Jo Bonfrère qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but failed to satisfy the expectations of the Korea Football Association. Dick Advocaat replaced Bonfrère to participate in the World Cup,[23] but Advocaat secretly contracted with a Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg just before the tournament, for which he was criticized.[24]
Despite controversies about managers, South Korea defeated Togo 2–1 and drew 1–1 with eventual finalists France. However, they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 2–0 to Switzerland in the last match.
| 13 June 2006 Group G | South Korea | 2–1 |  Togo | FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt, Frankfurt |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Lee Chun-soo 54' Ahn Jung-hwan 72' |
Report | Kader 31' |
Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Graham Poll (England) |
| 18 June 2006 Group G | France  | 1–1 | South Korea | Zentralstadion, Leipzig |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Henry 9' |
Report | Park Ji-sung 81' |
Attendance: 43,000 Referee: Benito Archundia (Mexico) |
| 23 June 2006 Group G | Switzerland  | 2–0 | South Korea | FIFA WM Stadion Hannover, Hanover |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Senderos 23' Frei 77' |
Report | Attendance: 43,000 Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) |
2010 (South Africa)
The Korean FA appointed Hiddink's predecessor Huh Jung-moo as the manager again after Pim Verbeek resigned due to mental stress at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.[25] Under Huh, South Korea won their group in the final round (fourth round) of the Asian qualifiers with four victories and four draws without a loss, easily qualifying for the 2010 tournament.[26] Park Ji-sung, Park Chu-young, Lee Chung-yong, and Ki Sung-yueng were in charge of South Korea's attack in the qualifiers, and were evaluated as four key players among the squad of the time.[27]
South Korea finished second in the Group B with four points, qualifying for the knockout stage. They were then eliminated from the tournament after losing to Uruguay in the round of 16.
| 12 June 2010 Group B | South Korea | 2–0 |  Greece | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth |
| 13:30 UTC+2 | Lee Jung-soo 7' Park Ji-sung 52' |
Report | Attendance: 31,513 Referee: Michael Hester (New Zealand)[28] |
| 17 June 2010 Group B | Argentina | 4–1 | South Korea | Soccer City, Johannesburg |
| 13:30 UTC+2 | Park Chu-young 17' (o.g.) Higuaín 33', 76', 80' |
Report | Lee Chung-yong 45+1' |
Attendance: 82,174 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)[29] |
| 22 June 2010 Group B | Nigeria  | 2–2 | South Korea | Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban |
| 20:30 UTC+2 | Uche 12' Yakubu 69' (pen.) |
Report | Lee Jung-soo 38' Park Chu-young 49' |
Attendance: 61,874 Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal) |
| 26 June 2010 Round of 16 | Uruguay | 2–1 |  South Korea | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth |
| 16:00 UTC+2 | Suárez 8', 80' |
Report | Lee Chung-yong 68' |
Attendance: 30,597 Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany) |
2014 (Brazil)
Hong Myung-bo became the national team manager one year before the 2014 World Cup, and had to prepare for the competition in a short period of time. He called the bronze medalists of the 2012 Summer Olympics who had been led by him, but performed below par in the World Cup. They were pelted with yeot (a traditional Korean confectionery, which can sometimes be used to express insults) when they returned to South Korea.[30]
| 17 June 2014 Group H | Russia  | 1–1 | South Korea | Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá |
| 18:00 BRT–1 (UTC−4) | Kerzhakov 74' |
Report | Lee Keun-ho 68' |
Attendance: 37,603 Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina) |
| 22 June 2014 Group H | South Korea | 2–4 |  Algeria | Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre |
| 16:00 BRT (UTC−3) | Son Heung-min 50' Koo Ja-cheol 72' |
Report | Slimani 26' Halliche 28'Djabou 38'Brahimi 62' |
Attendance: 42,732 Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia) |
| 26 June 2014 Group H | South Korea | 0–1 | Belgium | Arena Corinthians, São Paulo |
| 17:00 BRT (UTC−3) | Report | Vertonghen 78' |
Attendance: 61,397 Referee: Ben Williams (Australia) |
2018 (Russia)
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For the combined qualification matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, South Korea won all seven matches without conceding a goal in the second round but following a series of poor results in the third round of qualifiers, including losses to China and Qatar, the former manager Uli Stielike was sacked and was replaced by under-23 coach Shin Tae-yong for the remainder of the qualifying round.[31] Under Shin Tae-yong, the team managed to qualify as the second-placed team in their group following two goalless draws against Iran and Uzbekistan, sending South Korea to the World Cup for the ninth consecutive time.[32] Shin quickly tested various tactics after the qualifiers, but he had difficulty carrying out his plan due to injuries of many players. Some of them were eventually excluded from the team.[33]
At the 2018 World Cup, they lost their first game against Sweden 1–0 after conceding from a penalty. They then faced Mexico and lost 2–1 after conceding another penalty. However, despite their two consecutive losses, South Korea was not eliminated just yet. To have any chance of advancing, South Korea would have to win their final group stage match against the defending champions Germany by at least two goals and Mexico would have to defeat Sweden in its last group stage game.[34] South Korea for its part did what it had to do to stay in contention and won 2–0 against Germany with goals from Kim Young-gwon and Son Heung-min, causing them to be eliminated in the first round for the first time in 80 years. Germany had 28 shots with 6 on target, but the South Korea's defense, led by keeper Jo Hyeon-woo, did not concede once.[35] However, Mexico lost to Sweden that same day and thus South Korea ultimately finished third in the group. As a result, South Korea saved Mexico from being eliminated and Mexican fans heavily praised the Koreans and celebrated their victory in front of the South Korean embassy.[36] The match is also called the "Miracle of Kazan" in South Korea although they dropped out of the tournament.[37]
| 18 June 2018 Group F | Sweden  | 1–0 | South Korea | Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod |
| 15:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Attendance: 42,300 Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) |
| 23 June 2018 Group F | South Korea | 1–2 | Mexico | Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don |
| 18:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Attendance: 43,472 Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia) |
| 27 June 2018 Group F | South Korea | 2–0 | Germany | Kazan Arena, Kazan |
| 17:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Attendance: 41,835 Referee: Mark Geiger (United States) |
2022 (Qatar)
The South Korean team, led by manager Paulo Bento and captained by the reigning Premier League Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min, qualified for the World Cup as the second-placed team of the AFC qualifying group A.[38] After a goalless draw against Uruguay and a narrow defeat against Ghana, South Korea defeated Portugal 2–1 in the final match of the group stage with a stoppage-time goal by Hwang Hee-chan.[39] Uruguay defeated Ghana 2–0, which meant that South Korea advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010 on virtue of scoring more goals than Uruguay, with the same number of points.[39] In the round of 16, the team was eliminated after losing 4–1 to Brazil.[40]
| 24 November 2022 Group H | Uruguay | 0–0 | South Korea | Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan |
| 16:00 UTC+3 |
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Report |
|
Attendance: 41,663 Referee: Clément Turpin (France) |
| 28 November 2022 Group H | South Korea | 2–3 |  Ghana | Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan |
| 16:00 UTC+3 |
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Report | Attendance: 43,983 Referee: Anthony Taylor (England) |
| 2 December 2022 Group H | South Korea | 2–1 | Portugal | Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan |
| 18:00 UTC+3 |
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Report |
|
Attendance: 44,097 Referee: Facundo Tello (Argentina) |
| 5 December 2022 Round of 16 | Brazil  | 4–1 | South Korea | Stadium 974, Doha |
| 22:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report |
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Attendance: 43,847 Referee: Clément Turpin (France) |
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References
External links
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