Korea Republic will look to continue building a solid World Cup resume in 2014. The Asian side had the fortune of being placed into a relatively inexperienced group and could emerge as the surprise favorite of its group. Can the team pull off the feat?

History

The team struggled to get involved with the tournament from 1930 through 1986 and only managed to participate for the 1954 tournament; in that competition, the team finished 16th with two losses in two matches.

Fortunes changed markedly for Korea Republic in 1986 when the team qualified for the tournament and managed to finish 20th. Since then, the team has played in every single World Cup and has put up solid results throughout. From 1986 through 1998, the team struggled to get out of the group, but in 2002 the Koreans made a run to the semifinals at home and wound up finishing fourth in the tournament. Four years later, the national side struggled in the group round and finished 17th. But in 2010, the Koreans pulled off a solid performance in the first round and actually got to the knockout rounds where they were eliminated by Uruguay by the score of 2-1.

How did they get to Brazil 2014?

Korea was drawn into an AFC group that included Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Lebanon. The team defeated Qatar 4-1 in the opener before taking down Lebanon 3-0 in its second game. In the ensuing matchup with Uzbekistan, the Koreans drew 2-2 but in the fourth qualifier the team lost 1-0 against Iran. A 2-1 win over Qatar ensued before Korea tied 1-1 against Lebanon. The team defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 in the following game; Korea lost 1-0 in its final game of the World Cup qualifiers. At the end of the day, the team finished with 14 points, two points behind Iran in the group; the top two teams in the group automatically qualify for the World Cup.

Park Chu-Young led the team with six goals while Lee Keun-Ho scored three goals and Kim Bo-Kyung scored twice; six other Koreans scored goals in the tournament.

Top Stars

Park Chu-Young has been a fixture with the national side since 2005 and has a total of 24 goals in 62 matches; 12 of those goals have come in World Cup qualifiers. He has scored one goal in the World Cup and that one came against Nigeria in 2010.

Koo Ja-Cheol has 12 goals in 35 games while Lee Keun-Ho has 18 in 58 games.

Aside from its goal scorers, the team is solid throughout the lineup and has good balance throughout.

Can they get out of the group?

Korea is grouped with Belgium, Russia and Algeria in the group stage. Many consider this to be a rather "easy" group as it features two European sides that are relatively young and lacking in experience to make a deep run in this tournament. However, Korea's record against the top contenders in the group is not particularly great. The team has lost two of three matches it has contested against Belgium, but has failed to win a game against the Europeans. The team also lost its first and only match against Russia this past November by the score of 2-1. However, Korea has won two of three against Algeria and has lost the third.

Many expect the Russians and Belgians to be the top two contenders for first place in the group and it is likely that this is the ultimate outcome. Belgium's group of superstars is too strong offensively to shutdown and that team should have no trouble winning the group. Russia is expected to contend for second place, but the team could fall in the opening round due to inexperience. This is the only way that Korea can hope to make a run into the next round.

Can they win it all?

In all likelihood, this team is not getting out of the group. However, if Russia or Belgium falters, expect this team to get to the next round where it is bound to take on the top side in Group G. If that happens, do not expect this team to get out of the first knockout round. Expect a round of 16 exit for Korea if it manages to get out of the group round.