The Korea Republic national football team represents the Republic of Korea in international football competitions. The team, also known as South Korea, is recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA. It is often considered Asia's most successful national team, since it made its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Being a two-time straight AFC Asian Cup champion, South Korea has participated in seven World Cup final tournaments and became the first and only Asian team to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan. It recently qualified for its eighth World Cup final tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It is the only Asian team to have qualified for the World Cup for seven times consecutively and currently holds the best FIFA World Cup record in Asia. They were the only unbeaten team during the AFC Qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and qualified with ease.
2010 World Cup qualifying
In the final round of South Africa 2010 World Cup qualifying, South Korea won the Group B with 16 points and qualified for the tournament finals.
South Korea's first match was another showdown with North Korea, whom they met in the previous qualifying round. For the third time in a row, the match ended in a draw. Hong Yong-Jo converted a penalty to put the North Koreans ahead in the 63rd minute, but Ki Sung-Yeung equalised five minutes later at a neutral venue in Shanghai.
In their second match, Korea Republic crushed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 4-1 at home. The South Koreans took the lead in the 19th minute when Daegu FC's Lee took a pass from Lee Chung-Yong and deflected shot off a defender that flew over the shoulder of goalkeeper Majed Naser. Park doubled the scoreline six minutes later when he stole a ball from a defender and blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the net. The lone goal for the UAE came from second-half substitute Ismail Al Hammadi who took advantage of a defensive lapse to slide in a shot in the 71st minute. Lee then struck again nine minutes later and Kwak Tae-hwi had the final score.
South Korea scored a shock away win with a 2-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia, which was their first win against Saudi Arabia in 19 years. Lee Keun Ho scored the first goal in the 77th minute, rounding off a move that saw the ball passed all around the park before Saudi hopes were buried when AS Monaco striker Park Chu-Young rattled in a second one minute into injury time of the second-half after catching the hosts on the counter-attack. Their fourth match against Iran ended with a 1-1 draw at Tehran. Javad Nekounam, who plays for Spanish side Osasuna, sent more than 80,000 home fans wild when he fired home a close range free kick for Iran on the hour mark. However, Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung helped Korea Republic to a share of the spoils. Park pounced with a decisive header in the 81st minute when Iranian goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati managed to only punch out an incoming free kick.
On June 6, 2009, South Korea qualified for their eighth World Cup finals by beating the UAE 2-0 in a home match. It is the seventh consecutive time that the South Koreans have qualified for the tournament. A few days later, South Korea drew 0-0 at home with Saudi Arabia, a team who at the time were still in the running for qualification. A 1-1 draw of their final match against Iran meant that South Korea was the only team unbeaten throughout the whole AFC qualifying campaign, with 7 wins and 7 draws in total. It also extended South Korea's unbeaten streak to 24 games, since losing to Peru by 0-1 in a friendly match on January 30, 2008. It also defeated Australia 3-1 in a friendly match soon after. They were currently undefeated for 27 matches but the record was currently broken by Serbia. South Korea dominated the Asian 2009/2010 award ceremony, winning national team of the year, coach of the year for the country's Huh Jung Moo and club of the year for the Pohang Steelers.
South Korea Team Profile Matches Road to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
South Korea team last standing position 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
South Korea Team Record in FIFA World Cup
Being a two-time straight AFC Asian Cup champion, South Korea has participated in seven World Cup final tournaments and became the first and only Asian team to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan. It recently qualified for its eighth World Cup final tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It is the only Asian team to have qualified for the World Cup for seven times consecutively and currently holds the best FIFA World Cup record in Asia. They were the only unbeaten team during the AFC Qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and qualified with ease.
2010 World Cup qualifying
In the final round of South Africa 2010 World Cup qualifying, South Korea won the Group B with 16 points and qualified for the tournament finals.
South Korea's first match was another showdown with North Korea, whom they met in the previous qualifying round. For the third time in a row, the match ended in a draw. Hong Yong-Jo converted a penalty to put the North Koreans ahead in the 63rd minute, but Ki Sung-Yeung equalised five minutes later at a neutral venue in Shanghai.
In their second match, Korea Republic crushed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 4-1 at home. The South Koreans took the lead in the 19th minute when Daegu FC's Lee took a pass from Lee Chung-Yong and deflected shot off a defender that flew over the shoulder of goalkeeper Majed Naser. Park doubled the scoreline six minutes later when he stole a ball from a defender and blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the net. The lone goal for the UAE came from second-half substitute Ismail Al Hammadi who took advantage of a defensive lapse to slide in a shot in the 71st minute. Lee then struck again nine minutes later and Kwak Tae-hwi had the final score.
South Korea scored a shock away win with a 2-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia, which was their first win against Saudi Arabia in 19 years. Lee Keun Ho scored the first goal in the 77th minute, rounding off a move that saw the ball passed all around the park before Saudi hopes were buried when AS Monaco striker Park Chu-Young rattled in a second one minute into injury time of the second-half after catching the hosts on the counter-attack. Their fourth match against Iran ended with a 1-1 draw at Tehran. Javad Nekounam, who plays for Spanish side Osasuna, sent more than 80,000 home fans wild when he fired home a close range free kick for Iran on the hour mark. However, Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung helped Korea Republic to a share of the spoils. Park pounced with a decisive header in the 81st minute when Iranian goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati managed to only punch out an incoming free kick.
On June 6, 2009, South Korea qualified for their eighth World Cup finals by beating the UAE 2-0 in a home match. It is the seventh consecutive time that the South Koreans have qualified for the tournament. A few days later, South Korea drew 0-0 at home with Saudi Arabia, a team who at the time were still in the running for qualification. A 1-1 draw of their final match against Iran meant that South Korea was the only team unbeaten throughout the whole AFC qualifying campaign, with 7 wins and 7 draws in total. It also extended South Korea's unbeaten streak to 24 games, since losing to Peru by 0-1 in a friendly match on January 30, 2008. It also defeated Australia 3-1 in a friendly match soon after. They were currently undefeated for 27 matches but the record was currently broken by Serbia. South Korea dominated the Asian 2009/2010 award ceremony, winning national team of the year, coach of the year for the country's Huh Jung Moo and club of the year for the Pohang Steelers.
South Korea Team Profile Matches Road to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
| 06/02/08 20:00 | Seoul |  | Korea Republic | 4:0 (1:0) | Turkmenistan |  |
| 26/03/08 19:00 | Shanghai |  | Korea DPR | 0:0 | Korea Republic | |
| 31/05/08 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 2:2 (1:0) | Jordan |  |
| 07/06/08 17:30 | Amman | | Jordan | 0:1 (0:1) | Korea Republic | |
| 14/06/08 19:00 | Ashgabat | | Turkmenistan | 1:3 (0:1) | Korea Republic | |
| 22/06/08 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 0:0 | Korea DPR | |
| 10/09/08 20:00 | Shanghai | | Korea DPR | 1:1 (0:0) | Korea Republic | |
| 15/10/08 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 4:1 (2:0) | United Arab Emirates |  |
| 19/11/08 19:35 | Riyadh |  | Saudi Arabia | 0:2 (0:0) | Korea Republic | |
| 11/02/09 15:00 | Tehran |  | Iran | 1:1 (0:0) | Korea Republic | |
| 01/04/09 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 1:0 (0:0) | Korea DPR | |
| 06/06/09 20:15 | Dubai | | United Arab Emirates | 0:2 (0:2) | Korea Republic | |
| 10/06/09 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 0:0 | Saudi Arabia | |
| 17/06/09 20:00 | Seoul | | Korea Republic | 1:1 (0:0) | Iran | |
South Korea team last standing position 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Korea Republic | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
 | Korea DPR | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
 | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 12 |
 | Iran | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
 | United Arab Emirates | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 1 |
South Korea Team Record in FIFA World Cup
| World Cup Finals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | |
| 1930 to 1950 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1954 | Round 1 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | |
 1958 | Entry not accepted by FIFA | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1962 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1966 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1970 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1974 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1978 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
 1982 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1986 | Round 1 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | |
 1990 | Round 1 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
 1994 | Round 1 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
 1998 | Round 1 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
  2002 | Fourth Place | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | |
| 2006 | Round 1 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
 2010 | Qualified | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 8/19 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 53 | ||