Korea in 6th among 3rd-place teams with 2 matchdays left
Korea remained in position to sneak into the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday with two more matchdays left in the group stage. Korea are in sixth among the 12 third-place teams after Groups D, E and F finished up their play Thursday across the United States. Korea finished third in Group A on three points from a win and two losses. They fell to South Africa 1-0 in Guadalupe, northeastern Mexico, on Wednesday, when a win or a draw would have sent them directly to the round of 32 as the Group A runner-up. Korea's knockout status is now at the mercy of other teams. With the tournament having expanded from 32 to 48 nations, eight best third-place teams get to play in the knockout stage, along with the top two countries from each of the 12 groups. Korea began Thursday in fourth place among third-ranked teams, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, after finishing third in Group B on Wednesday, having already secured their knockout spot with four points. Then on Thursday, Ecuador and Sweden joined them at four points — with the former upsetting Germany 2-1 and the latter playing Japan to
