Korean players arrive in Mexico base camp ahead of World Cup

Son Heung-min, center, captain of the Korean men's national football team, arrives at the team's official hotel for the FIFA World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, Friday. Yonhap

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The Korean men's national football team arrived in their FIFA World Cup base camp in Mexico on Friday, six days before their first group stage match.

Coached by Hong Myung-bo, Korea checked into the Westin Guadalajara in the Mexican city of Guadalajara around 4 p.m. Friday, greeted by dozens of fans.

Korean fans and local residents alike gathered around the entrance hours before the team's arrival. Others lined up in the balcony of Expo Guadalajara, a convention center standing next to the hotel.

They shouted words of encouragement and screamed out players' names as the athletes stepped off the team bus. Captain Son Heung-min was the last to leave the bus and drew the loudest cheers, though neither Son nor his teammates stopped to sign autographs or accept gifts from fans.

Korea had been in the U.S. state of Utah for the past three weeks for altitude training. The Taegeuk Warriors are scheduled to play two of their three Group A matches in Guadalajara, also a high city about 1,500 meters above sea level, and Hong said recently he was pleased with the way his players made necessary adjustments to competing in thin air.

Korea won both of their friendlies during their U.S. camp, beating Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 and then El Salvador 1-0.

They will open their World Cup against Czechia at 8 p.m. Thursday (local time) or 11 a.m. Friday (Korean time) at Estadio Guadalajara.

Korea's second match will be against Mexico at 7 p.m. June 18 (local time), or 10 a.m. June 19 (Korean time), also at Estadio Guadalajara.

The final Group A match for Korea will be against South Africa at 7 p.m. June 24 (local time), or 10 a.m. on June 25 (Korean time) at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey.

Mexico, Canada and the United States are co-hosting the tournament, which has expanded from 32 teams to 48 teams.

The top two nations from each of the 12 groups will qualify for the knockout stage, joined by the eight best third-place teams.

Hong has said the primary goal is to qualify for the round of 32 from "the best position possible" and then lean on the competition's inherent unpredictability.

If Korea win Group A, they will play their first knockout match in Mexico City and will be guaranteed to play a third-place qualifier.

If Korea advance to the round of 32 as the runner-up in Group A, they will face the Group B runner-up in Los Angeles.

In case Korea sneak into the knockouts as the No. 3 seed from Group A, their round of 32 match will either be in Boston against the Group E winner or in Seattle against the Group G winner.

On Saturday, Korea will have a FIFA-organized "Community Training" at Chivas Verde Valle, the training facility for the Mexican pro club C.D. Guadalajara.