Korea routs Kuwait to finish World Cup qualifiers with undefeated record

Members of Korean men's national football team celebrate a 4-0 victory in the final Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Tuesday. Yonhap

Korea defeated Kuwait 4-0 at home Tuesday to wrap up their World Cup qualifying campaign in style, celebrating their early qualification for the big tournament in front of delighted supporters.

Jeon Jin-woo, Lee Kang-in, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Lee Jae-sung scored a goal apiece at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, with 41,911 fans on hand to watch the team's final Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Korea, world No. 23, finished first in their group with 22 points from six wins and four draws, while 134th-ranked Kuwait finished last with five points on five draws and five losses. With the top two teams from three groups in this round qualifying for the World Cup, Jordan secured the second ticket out of Group B.

Korea had already clinched their World Cup berth with a 2-0 away win over Iraq last Thursday. With the business taken care of, head coach Hong Myung-bo had said in the days leading up to Tuesday that the Kuwait match would be a proving ground for young and inexperienced players.

Hong lived up to his word by changing seven players from the lineup that started against Iraq, with six of those players coming in with fewer than 10 caps.

And the new faces did the heavy lifting on the offensive end in the breezy win on a cool night in Seoul.

This was only Korea's second win at home in five matches in the third round.

The next set of international matches for Korea will be against China, Hong Kong and Japan at the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship in July.