The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

) represents

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in men's international football and is governed by the

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with F ...

. South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia since the 1980s, having participated in ten consecutive and eleven overall

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

tournaments, the most for any Asian country. Despite initially going through five World Cup tournaments without winning a match, South Korea became the first (and so far only) Asian team to reach the semi-finals when they co-hosted the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

tournament with Japan. South Korea also won two

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

titles, and finished as runners-up on four occasions. Furthermore, the team won three gold medals and three silver medals at the senior Asian Games. The team is commonly nicknamed the "Reds" by both fans and the media due to the color of their primary kit. The national team's supporting group is officially referred to as the Red Devils.

History

Early history

First World Cup team (1954)

Foundation of Yangzee (1967)

Golden generation (1986)

Tragedy of Marseille (1998)

Hiddink's magic (2002)

Captain Park era (2008)

Proactive football (2022)

Team image

Nicknames

The South Korea national football team has been known or nicknamed as the ''

Taegeuk ''Taegeuk'' (, ) is a Korean term cognate with the Chinese term '' Taiji'' ( Wade-Giles spelling: ''T'ai-chi''), meaning "supreme ultimate", although it can also be translated as "great polarity / duality". The symbol was chosen for the desig ...

Warriors'' () and the ''Tigers of Asia'' ().

Kits and crest

Red is the traditional shirt color of the South Korean national team, who are consequently nicknamed the "Reds", while the fans are called the "Red Devils". The away shirt has varied between white and blue. In 1994, the home shirt shifted from red to white, but in October 1995, red returned as home color, paired with black shorts. South Korea used to wear the South Korean flag as their shirt badge until 2001, when their tiger crest was unveiled. On 5 February 2020, the KFA announced a new, more simplistic logo. The emblem retained the tiger, albeit in a more minimalist design, enclosed in a rectangular frame. Red, blue and white, South Korea's traditional colors, have been maintained in the new logo.

Kit suppliers

Kit deals

Home stadium

The South Korea national team played their first home match at the Dongdaemun Stadium on 21 April 1956. The match was a

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", prov ...

for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup against the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. They currently play their home matches at several stadiums, which are also used by K League clubs.

Rivalries

South Korea's greatest rival is

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. This rivalry is an extension of a competitive rivalry between the two nations that goes beyond football, and some matches in the past have been tainted with controversy. South Korea leads the all-time series with 42 wins, 23 draws and 16 losses. A rivalry has also developed with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The two nations have played against each other officially since 1958, totalling 33 matches as of March 2022, including eleven World Cup qualifiers. South Korea and Iran were among the strongest Asian national teams during the 1960s and 1970s. Although the teams only had one chance to play against each other in the final match of the

, in 1972, they have faced each other five consecutive times in the quarter-finals between 1996 and 2011, with each team recording two wins, two losses, and a draw. Iran leads the all-time series with 13 wins, 10 draws and 10 losses. Another major rival is

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and is also one of the most followed rivalries in Asia. South Korea trails behind Australia with 8 wins, 11 draws and 9 defeats. In major competitions, South Korea won only two official matches against Australia, and also lost in the

2015 AFC Asian Cup Final The 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final was a football match which took place on 31 January 2015 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, to determine the winner of 2015 AFC Asian Cup. It was played between South Korea and hosts Australia. Australia ...

. South Korea has had great success against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, with China failing to defeat them in 28 competitive matches before finally winning a game in 2010. They also possess a strong rivalry with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, though matches are infrequent due to diplomatic and security reasons.

Supporters

The official supporter group of the national team, the Red Devils, were founded in 1995. Known for their passionate support, they are commonly referred to as the 12th man. Their most common chant is "Dae-Han-Min-Guk" (; 'Republic of Korea' or 'Great Korea'), followed by five claps. The FIFA Fan Fest was introduced at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in South Korea.

All-time results

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

. ''Caps and goals updated as of 5 December 2022, after the match against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the South Korea squad within the last twelve months. ;Notes *^INJ = Withdrew due to injury
*^PRE = Preliminary squad

Notable former players

The following players were inducted into the KFA Hall of Fame, or were selected for the Korean Best XI of All Time in one or more surveys.

Goalkeepers *

Hong Deok-young Hong Deok-young (Hangul: 홍덕영, Hanja: 洪德永; 5 May 1926 – 13 September 2005) was a South Korean football player, manager and referee. He was one of the first South Koreans to be capped for their country at international level. He wa ...

(1948–1954) * Lee Se-yeon (1966–1973) * Lee Woon-jae (1994–2010)

Defenders * Kim Jung-nam (1964–1973) * Kim Ho (1966–1972) * Hong Myung-bo (1990–2002) * Lee Young-pyo (1999–2011)

Midfielders * Kim Yong-sik (1948–1950) *

Huh Jung-moo Huh Jung-moo (Korean: 허정무, Hanja: 許丁茂; born 13 January 1955) is a former South Korean football player and manager. Playing career Huh was one of the best South Korean college footballers before starting his semi-professional caree ...

(1974–1986) *

Lee Young-moo Lee Young-moo (Hangul: 이영무, born July 26, 1953) is a retired South Korean football player. Style of play Lee didn't have a great talent or physique, but he was the most active South Korean footballer of all time. He was designated as an ...

(1975–1981) * Cho Kwang-rae (1977–1986) * Park Chang-sun (1979–1986) *

Park Ji-sung Park Ji-sung (; ; born 30 March 1981) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital Seoul, Park is the most successful Asian player in football history, having won 19 trophies i ...

(2000–2011)

Forwards * Lee Hoe-taik (1966–1977) * Cha Bum-kun (1972–1986) * Choi Soon-ho (1980–1991) * Kim Joo-sung (1985–1996)

Individual records

Players in bold are still active with South Korea.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

Champions Runners-up Third place Tournament played on home soil

FIFA World Cup

Olympic Games

:''Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.''

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Games

:''Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.''

EAFF Championship

Other competitions

Head-to-head record

The following table shows South Korea's head-to-head record, correct as of 5 December 2022.

Honours

:: Fourth place:

* Afro-Asian Cup of Nations : Champions: 1987 *

: Champions:

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

: Runners-up: 1972,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

, 1988,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

: Third place: 1964, 2000,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

* Asian Games : Gold medalists: 1970,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

: Silver medalists:

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, 1962 : Bronze medalists:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

:: Fourth place:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

* CONCACAF Gold Cup :: Fourth place:

* EAFF Championship : Champions:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2017, 2019 : Runners-up:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 2022 : Third place:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

:: Fourth place:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

* Minor competitions **

Korea Cup The Korea Cup ( ko, 코리아컵 국제축구대회) was an international football tournament held annually in South Korea from 1971 to 1999. History The Korea Cup was created with the name President's Cup Football Tournament ( ko, 박대통� ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 1976,

, 1981,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, 1985, 1987, 1991,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in ...

: 1960, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978 **

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nat ...

: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1998 **

Jakarta Anniversary Tournament The Jakarta Anniversary Tournament was a football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most ...

: 1981 **

Dynasty Cup Dynasty Cup was an East Asian international association football tournament. The tournament was held every 2 or 3 years. It was hosted by Beijing in 1990 and 1992, Hong Kong in 1995, Yokohama and Tokyo in 1998. In 2002 the East Asian Football F ...

** LG Cup: 2000,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

, 2006 * Awards ** FIFA World Cup Most Entertaining Team:

** AFC National Team of the Year: 2002, 2009 ** EAFF Championship Fair Play Award:

** AFC Asian Cup Fair Play Award:

References

External links

* of the

Korea Republic
at FIFA {{DEFAULTSORT:South Korea national football team AFC Asian Cup-winning countries Asian national association football teams

History

Early history

First World Cup team (1954)

Foundation of Yangzee (1967)

Golden generation (1986)

Tragedy of Marseille (1998)

Hiddink's magic (2002)

Captain Park era (2008)

Proactive football (2022)

Team image

Nicknames

Kits and crest

Kit suppliers

Kit deals

Home stadium

Rivalries

Supporters

Recent results and fixtures

2022

All-time results

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Notable former players

Individual records

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Olympic Games

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Games

EAFF Championship

Other competitions

Head-to-head record

Honours

See also

References

External links