Kim Eun-Joong-ho’s side have failed to book their place in the round of 16 after two group games at the FIFA U20 World Cup 2023 and will now be counting down the possibilities for the final three rounds.
Kim Eun-joong’s men drew 2-2 with Honduras in their second Group F match of the tournament at the Mendoza Stadium in Argentina on 26 June. Despite their numerical superiority, South Korea conceded two early goals and had to settle for a late consolation goal from Kim Yong-hak and Park Seung-ho.
South Korea, who had beaten France 2-1 in the first round, moved to second place with a 1-1 draw (4 points), behind Gambia (6 points), who have won two in a row.메이저놀이터
Honduras is third with a 1-1 draw (P1) and France is fourth with two losses (P0).
Having secured at least third place in the group, South Korea will play their final group game on 29 June at 6am against Gambia, who have also qualified for the round of 16. Honduras and France will face off at the same time.
Despite not yet qualifying from the group stage, South Korea’s chances of reaching the round of 16 are high.
South Korea will qualify on their own if they get at least a draw against Gambia. A win would see them finish top of their group, while a draw would see them finish second in their group and punch their ticket to the round of 16.
The only case in point is if South Korea loses to the Gambia.
If South Korea loses to the Gambia, leaving them with one win, one draw and one loss (4 points), they will be ranked according to the result of the Honduras-France match.
If Honduras defeats France, they will be tied with South Korea at 1-1, in which case they will be ranked according to goal difference and goal difference.
South Korea has scored four goals and conceded three so far. Honduras has scored three and conceded four.
In the event of a tie on goal difference, the teams will be ranked on points, goals for and goals against, but since the teams tied 2-2 in the second round of group play, fair play points will be used to determine the rankings.
After the second game, South Korea had received six yellow cards and one red card. Honduras has one yellow card and one red card. It’s unlikely to go to fair play, but if it does, South Korea is at a disadvantage.
If Honduras and France draw or France defeats Honduras, South Korea will at least finish second in their group and advance to the round of 16, even if they lose to the Gambia.
The worst-case scenario is that South Korea finishes third in the group behind Honduras. In this case, the top four teams out of the six will join the round of 16 after comparing the results of the other third-placed teams.
We’ll have to see how the other groups fare, but with four points, South Korea’s chances of progressing are good.
In the last five U20 World Cups, from 2011 to 2019, only Portugal at the 2019 tournament failed to reach the round of 16 with four points.
In the last edition, five of the six group winners had the same four points, and Portugal were eliminated on goal difference and goal difference.
“We need to give more than 100 per cent until the Gambia game,” said Kim Eun-joong, “Recovery is the most important thing right now. We will recover well and prepare with the best possible strength,” he said, promising victory.