The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.
South Korea has become a staple of the World Cup, with this summer marking the 11th consecutive tournament for the team. That consistency comes with plenty of history, but one of the country’s most stunning and memorable wins came four years ago, in a must-win group stage game against Portugal.
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As part of the tricky Group H, a draw against Uruguay and a messy 3-2 loss to Ghana jeopardized South Korea’s chances of advancing. That all led to a dramatic finale against Portugal: In order to advance to the knockout round on tiebreakers, South Korea needed to beat the top-10 ranked, Cristiano Ronaldo-led team while praying for Uruguay to beat Ghana.
The game did not get off to a good start for South Korea, as Portuguese forward Ricardo Horta scored in the fifth minute for an early lead. But in the 27th minute, defender Kim Young-gwon found the equalizer off a corner kick, sliding in the box to keep South Korea’s hopes alive.
The 1-1 draw held for the next 60-plus minutes of play, as both teams battled for the win. Then, in the first minute of stoppage time, Korean captain Son Heung-min slid a ball through to Hwang Hee-chan, who nailed the open shot past Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
That goal sealed it for South Korea, which advanced to the knockout stage with the help of Uruguay’s 2-0 win over Ghana. Uruguay and South Korea finished the group stage with the same record (1-1-1), the same number of points (four) and the same goal differential (zero), but South Korea’ four goals scored outweighed Uruguay’s two.
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It marked just the third time that South Korea had ever advanced past the group stage. Though the Koreans ended up losing to Brazil in the Round of 16, it sets a high standard for the country heading into this summer.
