Tottenham's Heung-Min Son will lead South Korea's latest campaign in Russia, find out all you need to know about them.
South Korea
- FIFA World Ranking: 62
- Sky Bet outright winner odds: 250/1
- Best Bet: Son Heung-Min to be South Korea’s top goal scorer 9/4
- World Cup appearances: 9
- Best World Cup finish: Fourth place (2002)
- Nickname: Asian Tigers
Coach - Shin Tae-Yong: A former midfielder - he lead Seongnam Ilhwa to the 2010 Asian Champions League title. He led South Korea in the 2016 Olympics and came in to replace Uli Stielike during qualification after defeat to Qatar left them in danger of missing out.
Legend - Ahn Jung-Hwan: An instant legend when he put in the golden goal that sparked national hysteria as the World Cup hosts put out Italy in 2002. The game was full of controversy and Ahn actually missed a penalty earlier in the game, but went from villain to hero with his dramatic winner. He wasn't a hero in Italy though, and was sacked by his club side Perugia after the game!
Star Man - Son Heung-Min: A no brainer this one, with the Tottenham man showing some great form for Spurs this season, along with seven goals for his country in the qualifying campaign, and he'll be the main man in Russia for them.
Did you know? South Korea have been ever-presents at the World Cup since the 1986 tournament in Mexico - and with Russia being their 10th appearance they're the top attendees from Asia.
Fun fact: The number four in South Korea is considered unlucky. They often leave the fourth floor of buildings out altogether. It'll be interesting who wears the number four shirt in the squad, if anyone!
Qualifying: It wasn't great, as they only finished as Group A runners-up when seven points behind Iran, but they were two points clear of third-place Syria to ensure they made it to Russia.
Fixtures: Sweden (1pm, June 18, Nizhny Novgorod), Mexico (4pm, June 23, Rostov-On-Don), Germany (3pm, June 27, Kazan)
South Korea squad
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Vissel Kobe), Kim Jin-hyeon (Cerezo Osaka), Cho Hyun-woo (Daegu FC).
Defenders: Kim young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande), Jang Hyun-soo (FC Tokyo), Jung Seung-hyun (Sagan Tosu), Yun Yong-sun (Seongnam FC), Oh Ban-suk (Jeju United), Kim Min-woo (Sangju Sangmu), Park Joo-ho (Ulsan Hyundai), Hong Chul (Sangju Sangmu), Go Yo-han (FC Seoul), Lee Yong (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors).
Midfielders: Ki Sung-yueng (Swansea City), Jung Woo-young (Vissel Kobe), Ju Se-jong (Asan Mugunghwa FC), Koo Ja-cheol (FC Augsburg), Lee Jae-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Lee Seung-woo (Hellas Verona), Moon Seon-min (Incheon United).
Forwards: Kim Shin-wook (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Hwang Hee-chan (FC Red Bull Salzburg).
South Korea Profile
They're in Russia, but only by the skin of their teeth after an awful qualifying campaign ended with them standing on the pitch after a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan waiting to find out if Syria had beaten Iran.
As it happened, South Korea sneaked through, but they will need to vastly improve if they are to trouble Mexico and Sweden in their group alongside defending champions Germany.
In ten games they won just four and earned just one point from five games away from home - they're a long way short of the team that rose to 17th in the 1998 world rankings.
It's also a far cry from the wonder days of the 2002 World Cup they co-hosted with Japan when they made it all the way to the semi-finals.
Who to watch out for
Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min will be expected to perform on the world stage for his country after enjoying another brilliant goal-scoring season in the Premier League.
Swansea City’s Ki Sung-Yeung will also be influential in their midfield, providing energy and technical ability on the ball.
How did they qualify?
South Korea qualified automatically for the finals in Russia after finishing second behind Iran in the AFC section.
After losing to Iran they had to bounce back late on against Uzbekistan with a Koo Ja-cheol striker five minutes from time.
Coach Uli Stielike was feeling the pressure after Korea suffered their first competitive defeat against China, and he was fired as coach after a 3-2 loss to bottom team Qatar.
New coach Shin Tae-yong saw Korea draw with Uzbekistan in a game they thought they had to win, but as players waited on the pitch they found out Syria hadn’t won in Iran meaning they went through.
Any interesting facts about South Korea?
South Korea is a leader in innovation. The capital, Seoul, is home to companies like Samsung, KIA, LG and Hyundai. South Korea is also reportedly the best place for mobile data browsers. The country is said to have an expected 4G availability 95.71% of the time.
Over half of South Korea is covered in forest at just over an estimated 60%.
South Korea borders what is widely considered to be one of the most volatile places on the planet, North Korea. However, there was major progress in 2018 where their leader Kim Jong-un agreed to unify Korean time-zones, a significant step in ending the war between the two nations.
The country is massively growing. The World Bank rankings put South Korea at 11th in terms of highest GDP’s on the planet and, with the innovation at hand, it is difficult to see the growth halting. They also estimated the population to be around 51 million in 2016.
The number four in South Korea is considered unlucky. They often leave the fourth floor of buildings out altogether and go from three to five.
Any famous football moments?
When they co-hosted the World Cup in 2002, they shocked the world when they knocked out Italy via a Golden Goal from Ahn Jung-Hwan in a game that saw Italy reduced to 10 men after Francesco Totti was sent off in extra-time.
More recently, South Korea came runners-up in the AFC Asian Cup, losing in the final to Australia despite beating them in the group stage in Brisbane.
They have also won the AFC Asian Cup on two occasions, in 1956 and then again as host nation in 1960.
