Now at a 10th consecutive World Cup finals, South Korea have not entered many of those appearances with such low expectations.
A potentially tournament-threatening injury to star man Son Heung-min on the eve of the tournament has dampened spirits even further for a side who have not drilled much confidence into their supporters under the stewardship of Paulo Bento.
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Only Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain boast a longer consecutive qualification record than South Korea, but failure to progress out of the group stages for a third successive finals will all but certainly spell the end for their under-pressure Portuguese manager.
Here, Sports Mole previews the chances of South Korea at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
GROUP
As third seeds, South Korea will feel hard done by in not avoiding one of the big boys in pot two.
Portugal and Uruguay represent stiff opposition with plenty of World Cup experience both in recent years and in history.
Their clash with Ghana in between the ties with the two heavyweights in the group could prove crucial to the shaping of the group.
There will be a repeat of the final group fixture in 2002 for South Korea and Portugal, as the pair meet again 20 years on at the same stage, after the Koreans knocked out a Portugal side which contained their current manager Bento.
FIXTURES
November 24: Uruguay vs. South Korea (1pm, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan)
November 28: South Korea vs. Ghana (1pm, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan)
December 2: South Korea vs. Portugal (3pm, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan)
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Qualification was a breeze for Bento and his Korean side, and that perhaps could be to their disadvantage, as the closest side to challenging them for a spot in the finals was the United Arab Emirates, a nation who have never qualified for the finals.
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After neighbours North Korea pulled out of qualifying after the second stage draw was made, the Taeguk Warriors were left with the simplest of tasks of seeing off Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka for a place in the final round.
After easily navigating through that section, themselves and Iran were drawn into Group A along with UAE, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon again.
With two progressing from the group, there was never any doubt of making it through, as South Korea picked up 23 points from their opening nine games, before a defeat to UAE in a very laboured performance expected from a side who had already qualified.
RECENT FORM
The Koreans have been busy in organising friendlies in preparation for the finals, playing no fewer than seven since the summer, with the most recent, a 1-0 win over Iceland last weekend, providing Bento with the chance to look at potential fringe players to select for his squad.
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Results have been very mixed since qualification was secured, and the one which grabbed most headlines was a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Brazil, as it showed the gulf in class between themselves and the very best.
Beating Chile, Egypt, Cameroon and Iceland provided positives, but only one of those sides qualified for Qatar, so their ability has been questioned when facing better sides.
A 3-0 defeat to rivals Japan, albeit with a slightly weaker squad than usual, in the EAFF Championship was unpleasant for the Korean faithful, and with them not organising a friendly before the finals with a full squad, South Korea will need to find form instantly once the tournament gets underway.
SQUAD
#더뜨겁게theReds🔥
— theKFA (@theKFA) November 12, 2022
2022 카타르 월드컵 참가하는 축구국가대표팀의 명단을 공개합니다!
✔2022 카타르 월드컵 본선 조별리그
v🇺🇾#우루과이 11.24(목)22:00
v🇬🇭#가나 11.28(월)22:00
v🇵🇹#포르투갈 12.03(토)00:00
🏟에듀케이션시티스타디움⏰한국시간 기준#대한민국 #축구국가대표팀 #카타르월드컵 pic.twitter.com/tksSE7YoAu
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al-Shabab), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
Defenders: Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Hong Chul (Daegu FC), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan Hyundai), Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan Hyundai), Cho Yu-min (Daejon Hana Citizen), Kim Min-jae (Napoli), Yoon Jong-gyu (FC Seoul)
Midfielders: Jung Woo-young (Al-Sadd), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon Sangmu), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan), Jeong Woo-yeong (Freiburg), Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), Yang Hyun-jun (Gangwon FC)
Forwards: Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiacos), Cho Gue-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves)
STAR PLAYER - SON HEUNG-MIN
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Son Heung-min quite simply is the face of Asian football, and adored by every one of South Korea's 50 million population, and for good reason.
The stars of 2002 are rightly heralded as heroes, but no player has reached the stardom or had the world-class talent possessed by the Tottenham Hotspur front man.
That is why an entire nation has been holding its breath waiting for an update on the forward's health in the build up to the tournament, after he fractured his eye socket in a Champions League clash with Marseille at the start of the month.
Without him, virtually all of South Korea's attacking threat is wiped out, as they have become almost solely reliant on his goalscoring prowess under Bento.
If the surgery on his eye rules him out of the opening stage of the tournament, then Napoli's Kim Min-jae will shoulder much of the responsibility in ensuring that their defence is solid, as goals will then be at a premium within the squad.
MANAGER - PAULO BENTO
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Fate could very well end up repeating itself for Paulo Bento at a World Cup finals here in Qatar.
The former Portuguese international played his last game for the national side at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, against South Korea, and he was eliminated by them.
This time around, the nation of his birth could send his newly-adopted nation home in that final group fixture, and in doing so, cost him his job, as he enters the tournament under serious pressure.
His only previous appearance at a World Cup as a manager was with Portugal in 2014, and following a mauling at the hands of Germany and Thomas Muller in their group opener, Portugal went out at the group stage.
Discontent about his perceived dull playing style saw relations break down while manager of both Sporting Lisbon and Portugal, and that is proving the case again here, so unless some positive results can deflect attention away from his slow, possession-based game, Bento may find himself out of a job come the New Year.
WORLD CUP RECORD
Best finish: Fourth (2002)
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Despite qualifying on five previous occasions before taking on co-hosting responsibilities in 2002, South Korea did not win their first finals match until the group opener at their home World Cup.
South Korea certainly showed up for the big occasion, and were cheered on by tens of thousands in the stadiums for every fixture, but no World Cup run has been shrouded in as much controversy as theirs on home soil.
After comfortable progression from the group, their wins over Italy and Spain in the last 16 and quarter-final have been part of a wide discussion ever since about whether the hosts were given extremely favourable refereeing decisions.
Germany were their eventual conquerors in the semi-final, and a defeat to fellow dark horse Turkey in the third-place playoff meant fourth was the outcome.
Since that glorious summer, things have not quite gone to plan, with three group-stage exits and a last-16 defeat to Uruguay in 2010 not representing the sort of progress the Korean FA hoped for post-2002.
They were the protagonists behind one of the biggest moments of the last World Cup in 2018 though, as a late double saw them beat Germany 2-0 to knock the holders out in the group stage, even though it was not enough for themselves to progress either.
PREDICTION
Even with a fully-fit Son, this South Korean side has flattered to deceive against better opposition, and with their superstar now a serious doubt and the fans not fully on board with Bento and his playing style, there is not much down for the Taeguk Warriors at these finals.
VERDICT: Fourth in Group H
Andrew Delaney
