Korea clinging to last spot to qualify for knockouts

Korean players train for the FIFA World Cup at Chivas Verde Valle in Zapopan, Mexico, Thursday (local time). Yonhap

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — With one matchday left in the group stage of the FIFA World Cup, Korea are clinging to the last spot to sneak into the knockout phase.

Korea are eighth among the 12 third-place countries after Groups G, H and I completed their play Friday across Mexico, Canada and the United States. They are now battling for one of three remaining knockout tickets.

With the tournament now featuring 48 teams, up from 32, eight best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage, along with the top two countries from each of the 12 groups.

The group stage will end Saturday with matches for teams in Groups J, K and L. The goal difference is the first tiebreaker among third-place nations, followed by goals scored.

Korea finished third in Group A on three points from a win and two losses. They defeated Czechia 2-1 on June 11 but lost to Mexico 1-0 seven days later. A win or a draw against South Africa on Wednesday would have sent Korea into the round of 32 as the Group A runner-up, but Korea instead lost 1-0.

Korea began Friday sixth in the standings for third-place nations but dropped a spot after Senegal jumped into fifth with a 5-0 beatdown of Iraq to finish third in Group I with three points. Senegal have a goal difference of +2.

Senegal joined Sweden, Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Paraguay as third-place teams to qualify for the round of 32.

Korea got some help from Spain, who beat Uruguay 1-0 to close out Group H action. A win or a draw by Uruguay would have pulled Korea down another notch, behind either Uruguay or Cape Verde on goal difference or goals scored tiebreakers. Cape Verde finished second in Group H with three points.

Then in Group G, Egypt and Iran ended in a 1-1 draw, while Belgium defeated New Zealand 5-1. Belgium won the group with five points, with Egypt, also with five points, finishing second on a goal difference tiebreaker. Iran finished third with three points and slotted themselves into sixth place among third-place nations with a goal difference of zero.

Croatia and Algeria, who will both wrap up their group play Saturday, each have three points already. Croatia are in seventh place, just ahead of Korea. These two teams have the same goal difference of -1 but Croatia have the edge in goals scored at 3-2. Algeria, with a -2 goal difference, are in ninth.

Croatia will close out Group L action against Ghana, and Algeria's final Group J match is against Austria, who also have three points but sit in second place in the group with a zero goal difference.

DR Congo may also sneak into the picture. They are currently third in Group K with one point but their final match will be against Uzbekistan, considered the weakest team in the group with one goal scored against eight conceded in their two losses so far. A win over Uzbekistan will push DR Congo past Korea.

The Korean team returned to their base camp in Zapopan, near Guadalajara in western Mexico, after the South Africa match and rested Friday.

If they qualify for the round of 32, Korea will face Belgium, the Group G winner, at Seattle Stadium in Seattle at 1 p.m. Wednesday (5 a.m. Thursday in Korea).