The 'Samba Corps' broke the dream of reaching the quarterfinals of the first ever away World Cup in Korean football.



The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Paulo Bento (Portugal), lost 1-4 to Brazil, who showed off their individual skills in the round of 16 of the 2022 Qatar World Cup held at the 974 Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the morning of the 6th (Korean time).



Korea won 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in Group H, which included Uruguay, Ghana, and Portugal, and advanced to the round of 16 in second place in the group.



It was the third time in 12 years since the 2010 South Africa tournament that Korea reached the World Cup round of 16, including the 2002 Korea-Japan tournament that wrote the legend of the semifinals.



If we surpassed Brazil, we could write a new history of 'Away World Cup Quarterfinals', but Brazil (Korea 28th), who won the most tournaments (5 times) and is currently number 1 in the FIFA world rankings, was a formidable opponent.



This was the first match against Brazil in the World Cup, but Korea has not been able to show its strength against the South American team in the world's largest soccer festival.



Korea has played 34 matches in 10 competitions that have participated in the 2018 Russian competition and harvested 6 wins.



Of these, five wins were won against European teams (a penalty shoot-out win against Spain in the 2002 quarter-final was considered a draw) and one win was against an African team.



On the other hand, the South American and North and Central American teams have not won a match with 2 draws and 6 losses from 8 matches so far.



Previously, the South American team had a record of 1 draw and 4 losses.



They lost twice to Uruguay and Argentina, and drew once against Bolivia.



In this tournament, Korea also failed to break the tie with Uruguay, a South American team, 0-0 in their first match.



Enlarge Image


Although they lost to Ghana, an African team, 2-3, in the 46th minute of the second half, Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) scored a dramatic winning goal against Portugal, a strong European team, to win 2-1 and secure a ticket to the round of 16.



Then I stood in front of Brazil.



In the meantime, Korea has faced Brazil 7 times in friendly matches only, and has recorded 1 win and 6 losses.



Their only win was a 1-0 win in a match played in Seoul in March 1999 with Kim Do-hoon's winning goal.



Since then, it has been on a 4-game losing streak.



In the two friendly matches Bento took the helm, they lost 0-3 and 1-5 in a row.



In the end, I knelt again in front of Brazil, which I met for the first time in the World Cup, and with a new history in front of me.



Coincidentally, Korea lost 1-2 to Uruguay, a South American team, in the South African tournament, which reached the round of 16 in the away World Cup for the first time in history, and failed to advance to the quarterfinals.



With this tournament, Korea's record against South American teams in the World Cup now stands at 2 draws and 5 losses.



(Photo = Yonhap News/Getty Image Korea)