The Korea Republic national football team represents South Korea in international football competitions. The team is recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA. It has often been considered Asia's most successful national team, since it made its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics. South Korea has participated in more World Cup final tournaments than any other Asian team, and became the first Asian nation to reach the semi-finals in 2002. In 2006, however, it did not advance to Round of 16, finishing third in its group after Switzerland and France.

History

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Since the 1950s, South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia, winning several prestigious Asian football championships, including the first two Asian Cup tournaments.In the last six editions of Asian Cup, however, South Korea has not peformed as well as other teams, such as Japan and Saudi Arabia. See Asian Cup and Asian Nations Cup. The South Korean national team has also played in six consecutive World Cup finals from 1986, making a total of seven World Cup finals in all.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly with Japan, was a sign of the rapid progress made in South Korean football. Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korea defeated Italy and SpainSee 2002 FIFA World Cup (match reports) for these controversial victories., advancing to the semi-finals, a first for Asian football.

The enthusiasm of the red-clad supporters, known as the "Red Devils", also made a big impression on viewers world-wide. After the team success, football had an explosion of popularity in the country, where the game had traditionally been less popular than other games, such as baseball, formerly the most popular spectator sport in the country.

On June 8, 2005, South Korea qualified for its seventh World Cup by beating Kuwait 4-0 in Kuwait City. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, South Korea achieved its first World Cup victory outside of Asia by beating Togo 2 to 1 in Frankfurt on June 23, however were knocked out of the 2006 FIFA World Cup after a 2-0 loss against Switzerland.

On July 11th, when the FIFA World Rankings were renewed, Korea Republic's ranking brought quite a controversy at home. In the May rankings, Korea was the 3rd best in Asia, and 29th best in the World. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Korea was down to 56th, behind other AFC countries like Australia, Iran, Japan, and non-World Cup qualifier Uzbekistan.

Many figures in Korean football felt that the rankings were unfair, especially because the Korean team were one of only two Asian teams to win a game at the 2006 World Cup (the other being Australia), were the Asian team with the best chance of qualifying for the second round (behind Australia, which did qualify), and had participated in more World Cup finals than the Australians. Furthermore, by drawing 1-1 with beaten finalists France, the Koreans were the only Asian team to avoid defeat to a former world champion.

World Cup record

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• 1930 to 1950 - Did not enter
• 1954 - Round 1
• 1958 - Did not enter
• 1962 - Did not qualify
• 1966 - Withdrew
• 1970 to 1982 - Did not qualify
• 1986 - Round 1
• 1990 - Round 1
• 1994 - Round 1
• 1998 - Round 1
• 2002 - Fourth place
• 2006 - Round 1

Asian Cup record

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• 1956 - Champions
• 1960 - Champions
• 1964 - Third place
• 1968 - Did not qualify
• 1972 - Second place
• 1976 - Did not qualify
• 1984 - Round 1
• 1988 - Second place
• 1992 - Did not qualify
• 1996 - Quarterfinals
• 2000 - Third place
• 2004 - Quarterfinals

East Asian Cup record

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• 2003 - Champions
• 2005 - Fourth place

2002 World Cup squad

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The head coach of the 2002 World Cup Korea Republic team was Guus Hiddink.

Position	No	Name	Date of birth	Height	Wieght	Club in 2002	current
GK	1	Lee Woon-Jae	26 April 1973	182cm	82kg	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
GK	12	Kim Byung-Ji	8 April 1970	184cm	77kg	Pohang Steelers	FC Seoul
GK	23	Choi Eun-Sung	5 April 1971	184cm	82kg	Daejeon Citizen	Daejeon Citizen
DF	15	Lee Min-Sung	23 June 1973	183cm	72kg	Busan I'cons	FC Seoul
DF	20	Hong Myung-Bo{Captain}	12 February 1969	181cm	73kg	Pohang Steelers	retired
DF	4	Choi Jin-Cheul	26 March 1971	187cm	80kg	Cheonbuk Hyundai Motors	Cheonbuk Hyundai Motors
DF	7	Kim Tae-Young	8 November 1970	180cm	73kg	Chunnam Dragons	retired
MF	5	Kim Nam-Il	14 March 1977	182cm	76kg	Chunnam Dragons	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
MF	10	Lee Young-Pyo	23 April 1977	176cm	66kg	Anyang LG Cheetahs	Tottenham
MF	6	Yoo Sang-Chul	18 October 1971	184cm	78kg	Kashiwa Reysol	retired
MF	13	Lee Eul-Yong	8 September 1975	176cm	69kg	Bucheon SK	Trabzonspor
MF	21	Park Ji-Sung	25 February 1981	175cm	70kg	Kyoto Purple Sanga	Manchester United
MF	3	Choi Sung-Yong	15 December 1975	173cm	70kg	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Yokohama FC
MF	2	Hyun Young-Min	25 December 1979	179cm	73kg	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
MF	22	Song Chong-Guk	20 February 1979	175cm	71kg	Busan I'cons	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
MF	14	Lee Chun-Soo	9 July 1981	172cm	69kg	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
MF	17	Yoon Jung-Hwan	16 February 1973	173cm	63kg	Cerezo Osaka	Sagan Tosu
FW	19	Ahn Jung-Hwan	16 February 1976	177cm	71kg	Perugia	MSV Duisburg
FW	9	Seol Ki-Hyun	8 January 1979	184cm	73kg	Anderlecht	Reading FC
FW	18	Hwang Sun-Hong	14 July 1968	183cm	79kg	Chunnam Dragons	retired
FW	11	Choi Yong-Soo	10 September 1973	184cm	79kg	JEF United	FC Seoul
FW	16	Cha Du-Ri	25 July 1980	183cm	75kg	Korea University	FSV Mainz
FW	8	Choi Tae-Uk	13 March 1981	173cm	67kg	Anyang LG Cheetahs	Shimizu S-Pulse

2006 World Cup squad

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head coach was Dick Advocaat.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings}} Ilhwa Chunma}} FC Zenit}} Jeonbuk FC}} Suwon Samsung Bluewings}} Jubilo Iwata}} Manchester United}} Ilhwa Chunma}} MSV Duisburg}} FC Seoul}} Reading F.C.}} Tottenham Hotspur}} Trabzonspor}} Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i}} FC Seoul}} Gwangju Sangmu}} FC Zenit}} Ilhwa Chunma}} Shimizu S-Pulse}} Ilhwa Chunma}} Chunnam Dragons}} Suwon Samsung Bluewings}} Suwon Samsung Bluewings}}

The South Korean team for 2006 World Cup had ten veterans from the 2002 World Cup squad and had more World Cup goalscorers than any other nation heading into Germany: Ahn Jung-Hwan, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Lee Eul-Yong, Song Chong-Gug, and Park Ji-Sung ^*.

2006 World Cup information

South Korea won its opening game of the 2006 World Cup against Togo. After the opening 45 minutes, Togo was up 1-0 after a goal from Mohamed Kader. Togo had Jean-Paul Abalo sent off by English referee Graham Poll 10 minutes into the second half as a result of receiving his second yellow card for a trip on Park Ji Sung, and Lee Chun-Soo put away the resulting free-kick to tie the game. South Korea made the most of its one-man advantage and substitute Ahn Jung-Hwan scored the team's second goal with a deflected strike from 20 yards. The final score of the game was 2-1 to South Korea. It was the team's first World Cup finals victory outside Korea.

South Korea's next opponent in the World Cup 2006 were 1998 World Cup winners France on 18 June, in Leipzig. The result was a 1-1 draw. France gained an early lead after 9' minutes, through Thierry Henry, but South Korea earned a late equaliser in the 82nd minute when Park Ji-Sung flicked the ball over French goalkeper Fabien Barthez and defender William Gallas and into the net. The game had a moment of controversy when French midfielder Patrick Vieira's header, from a corner in the first half, appeared to have crossed the goal line from the perspective of a camera before being knocked back into play by Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae and cleared away by Choi Jin-Cheul. However, the referee awarded Korea a free-kick for a foul on Choi instead of awarding France a goal. After the game, French coach Raymond Domenech argued that his team had scored two valid goals and that Vieira's goal, if awarded, would have changed the game significantly. However, Domenech made it clear that he blamed Mexican referee Benito Archundia rather than the Koreans, and argued for the use of video technology in confirming goals. Domenech's sentiment was echoed by French centreback Lilian Thuram who said: "The Koreans did what they had to do, to keep themselves alive, and if the referee had awarded the goal I believe the Koreans would not really have disputed it. Ultimately it was the referee who failed to do his job."

South Korea's final game in the group phase was against Switzerland on 23 June 2006. South Korea lost 0-2, and did not advance to the Round of 16, arriving third in the group. The game against Switzerland also had some controversy, which involved Switzerland's second goal in the 77th minute when the offside flag had been raised prior to it. The referee, Horacio Elizondo waived the call and allowed the goal yet it is still under public debate whether it was legitimate. There was also 2 controversial hand balls, when in both Patrick Müller touched the ball inside the Swiss penalty area.

On a side note, various commentaries have noted the "positive vibes and splash of colour" brought to the 2006 World Cup by the travelling red-clad horde of South Korea fans in Germany. In particular, the generally positive behaviour of the "red sea" of Korean fans, who cheered their team on regardless of the result or the technical level of performance (in contrast to fans of England, who booed and jeered their team heavily during their group games against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago), has been praised others. The game in Leipzig was also notable for the presence of the German locals, who cheered for the Koreans (owing to their traditional rivalry with France) and celebrated with the Korean fans when Park Ji Sung's equaliser made it in.

Tentative starting line-ups and formations

June 13 : Togo 2-1

June 18 : France 1-1

June 23 : Switzerland