North Korea at the FIFA World Cup

After South Africa being disqualified and South Korea having withdrawn due to logistical reasons, North Korea had to compete in a play-off match against Australia in order to qualify, which they won 9-2 on aggregate.

In the third and decisive group match, North Korea beat title contenders Italy 1-0, eliminating them from the competition and advancing to the second stage. No team from Asia has ever progressed from the first round before, and the feat would not be repeated until 1994, when Saudi Arabia reached the Round of 16.

In the quarter-final against Portugal, North Korea managed to lead 3-0 after 22 minutes, but the game was turned around with a final score of 3-5, with Portuguese star player Eusébio scoring four goals.

With a final pre-tournament FIFA ranking of 105th in the world, North Korea was the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the World Cup since the rankings began in 1993.

2010 was North Korea's first appearance at the World Cup since 1966.[15] The draw placed North Korea in Group G. They played their first match against five-time winners Brazil on 15 June. Despite their best efforts, they were nevertheless outmatched and lost 1-2. In their next game against Portugal on 21 June, they were defeated 0–7. Despite starting well (as against Brazil), their defensive and well organised approach unravelled after Portugal scored on them. The Koreans lost their final match against Ivory Coast 0–3 on 25 June. Having lost all three group matches, they were knocked out, finishing at the bottom of Group G. It was reported that the small contingency of apparent North Korean football fans were actually Chinese people who bought tickets reserved for North Korean government officials.[16] North Korea subsequently denied the report, and claimed instead that the Chinese were small in number, and that the regime had permitted their travel. There were also reports that the North Korean government punished the coach and players for losing the matches by sending them on a hard labour in mines. However, FIFA's investigators could not confirm that.