South Korea at the FIFA World Cup

Goalscoring

• Fastest goal conceded from kickoff

11 seconds, Hakan Şükür (Turkey), vs South Korea, 2002

Goalkeeping

• Most goals conceded, one tournament

16, Hong Deok-young, 1954

• Lowest goal difference, one tournament

−16, South Korea, 1954

• Biggest margin of loss

9, Hungary 9–0 South Korea, 1954; Yugoslavia 9–0 Zaire, 1974 and Hungary 10–1 El Salvador, 1982

Upsets

• Biggest upset in the knockout stage, per FIFA rankings

+34 – South Korea (2002) ranked 40 – won 2–1 over Italy (ranked 6)

• Biggest upset of a defending champion, per FIFA rankings

+56 – South Korea (2018) ranked 57 – won 2–0 over Germany (ranked 1)

• Biggest upset of a top ranked team, per FIFA rankings

+56 – South Korea (2018) ranked 57 – won 2–0 over Germany (ranked 1)

Hong Myung-bo was awarded with the Bronze Ball and was selected as one of the All-Star Team in 2002.

Park Ji-sung is the only Korean player to score at three different FIFA World Cups.

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. In the same year, Hong Myung-bo and Yoo Sang-chul have been voted members of the All Star Team. They are the only Asians ever to have been named in an All-Star Team. Hong also received the Bronze Ball award for the first time among Asian players.

South Korea first appeared in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, as the second Asian team to ever enter the World Cup after Indonesia. Qualifying occurred in March 1954, barely one year after the end of the Korean War. Only South Korea and Japan wound up competing for the Asian spot in the 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 5-3 victory followed by a 2-2 draw.[2]

South Korea played games against Hungary and Turkey, losing 9–0 and 7–0 respectively. The 16 goals against in a single edition are still the tournament record.

Hungary  v  South Korea

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)

Turkey  v  South Korea

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)

Group 2 table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Hungary	2	2	0	0	17	3	+14	4	Advance to knockout stage
West Germany	2	1	0	1	7	9	–2	2
Turkey	2	1	0	1	8	4	+4	2
South Korea	2	0	0	2	0	16	–16	0

South Korea started qualification first round with Malaysia and Nepal. They qualified first round as group winner, in the second round they met Indonesia. They beat Indonesia and Japan in the final round, they gained one of the two spots in Asia.

In finals, South Korea was allocated in group A with Argentina, Italy and Bulgaria. Their first match was against Argentina, who beat South Korea 3–1, with Diego Maradona playing a major part. Park Chang-Sun scored the first Korean goal in World Cup history. South Korea and Bulgaria drew 1–1 in a downpour, followed by a close defeat to defending champions Italy, 3–2.

Argentina  v  South Korea

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)

South Korea  v  Bulgaria

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)

South Korea  v  Italy

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)

Group A table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Argentina	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	5	Advance to knockout stage
Italy	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	4
Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
South Korea	3	0	1	2	4	7	−3	1

South Korea went undefeated during the qualifiers, with 9 wins and 2 draws in total. In finals, allocated in group E with Belgium, Spain and Uruguay, they dropped out in the group stage, losing all games.

Belgium  v  South Korea

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)

South Korea  v  Spain

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)

South Korea  v  Uruguay

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)

Group E table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Spain	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	5	Advance to knockout stage
Belgium	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	4
Uruguay	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1	3
South Korea	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0

Under coach Kim Ho and technical supervisor Anatoli Byshovets, the South Korean third straight appearance in the World Cup was an improvement over the previous two, with two ties and a loss. Along with a 0-0 against Bolivia, twice the Koreans' fitness made them survive stronger European teams, tying Spain in the final minutes of their 2-2 bout and reducing Germany's lead from 3-0 to 3-2.[3]

Spain  v  South Korea

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)

South Korea  v  Bolivia

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)

Germany  v  South Korea

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)

Group C table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Germany	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
Spain	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2
Bolivia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Former star Cha Bum-kun coached South Korea. Following two harrowing defeats, 3-1 to Mexico and 5-0 to the Netherlands, Cha was fired, being replaced in their final game by assistant Kim Pyung-seok.[4] Belgium opened the score early, but Korea tied with 19 minutes remaining.[5]

South Korea  v  Mexico

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: 39,133 Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria)

Netherlands  v  South Korea

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)

Belgium  v  South Korea

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)

Group E table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Netherlands	3	1	2	0	7	2	+5	5	Advance to knockout stage
Mexico	3	1	2	0	7	5	+2	5
Belgium	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	3
South Korea	3	0	1	2	2	9	−7	1

South Korea was one of the host nations for the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament, along with Japan. Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korean team achieved their first ever victory in the first stage (2–0, against Poland), and after a 1–1 draw with the USA, and a further 1–0 victory against heavily favored Portugal, the South Korean team qualified for the second round.[6]

The USA's shock 3-2 win over Portugal, together with a draw against South Korea was enough to send them through, even though they lost 1-3 to Poland. Portugal was eliminated with one win and two losses, including one against South Korea. Poland were also eliminated, despite beating the USA in their final game.

Their second round opponents were Italy, who were defeated 2–1 after extra time. The South Korea public then began to dream of a semi-final berth, which was attained on defeating Spain on penalties, thereby surpassing the record of their North Korean counterparts 36 years before. South Korea advanced to the semi-finals amid very controversial circumstances. Against Italy, South Korea escaped punishment for many fouls before Italy had Francesco Totti sent off for diving. Then in their quarter final against Spain, the Spanish had two goals erroneously disallowed before South Korea won on penalties.[7]

The South Korean team's run was halted by lost 1-0 to Germany in the semi-finals, and lost 3–2 to Turkey in the third place playoff.[8]

South Korea  v  Poland

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)

South Korea  v  United States

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)

Portugal  v  South Korea

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)

Group D table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
South Korea	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
United States	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4
Portugal	3	1	0	2	6	4	+2	3
Poland	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3

South Korea  v  Italy

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)

Spain  v  South Korea

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

Germany  v  South Korea

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)

South Korea  v  Turkey

29 June 2002 Third place play-off	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)

During the 2006 World Cup, South Korea achieved their first World Cup victory outside Asia by beating Togo 2–1. They then drew 1–1 against eventual finalists France, but lost 2–0 to Switzerland, which knocked them out of the tournament.

South Korea  v  Togo

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)

France  v  South Korea

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)

Switzerland   v  South Korea

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)

Group G table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Switzerland	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
France	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
South Korea	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
Togo	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0

South Korea won the 2010 World Cup AFC qualification with 16 points – 7 wins and 7 draws in total – making them the only team unbeaten throughout the whole campaign. They then qualified for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup Group B with 4 points, winning 2–0 against Greece, losing 4–1 to Argentina and drawing 2–2 with Nigeria. At the knockout stage, they met Uruguay, which ended in a 2-1 loss for South Korea, eliminating them from the tournament.

South Korea  v  Greece

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)[9]

Argentina  v  South Korea

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)[10]

Nigeria  v  South Korea

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)

Group B table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Argentina	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Advance to knockout stage
South Korea	3	1	1	1	5	6	–1	4
Greece	3	1	0	2	2	5	–3	3
Nigeria	3	0	1	2	3	5	–2	1

Uruguay  v  South Korea

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)

Led by 2002 captain Hong Myung-Bo, South Korea entered their eighth consecutive World Cup finals with expectations following the 2010 qualification and a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Tournament.

In their opening match against Russia, Lee Keun-ho scored after an error by goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, only for Aleksandr Kerzhakov to equalise following a goalmouth scramble. The high-scoring match that followed saw Algeria beat the Koreans 4-2. Korea outshot a 10-man Belgium side in the final game of group stage, but wound up defeated by a late goal by Jan Vertonghen.[11] The early exit lead the Korean squad to be pelted with yeot, a traditional Korean confectionery, upon arrival at Incheon,[12] and Hong to resign shortly afterwards.[13]

Russia  v  South Korea

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)

South Korea  v  Algeria

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)

South Korea  v  Belgium

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)

Group H table
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Belgium	3	3	0	0	4	1	+3	9	Advance to knockout stage
Algeria	3	1	1	1	6	5	+1	4
Russia	3	0	2	1	2	3	–1	2
South Korea	3	0	1	2	3	6	–3	1