In Korea’s first World Cup match on November 24th, 2022, Korea had an unexpected tie against Uruguay. Uruguay had a greater win probability, which is why World Cup fans were surprised to see Korea hold its ground against Uruguay.

The next match was Korea vs. Ghana on November 28th—the main focus of this article. Moving into the statistics, Korea had 22 shots, with only seven being on target. In comparison,  Ghana had seven shots, with three being on target; the main spotlight, however, was on Korea’s players, Cho Gue Sung (#9) and Son Heung-min (#7). Heung-min was known to be a star player and top performer by many people. On the other hand, Gue Sung is a young player who people do not know very well. He recently accumulated a lot of fame when substituted during the match against Uruguay, but during the match with Ghana, he surprised people with his skills. The match was 0-2 for a long time, but Gue Sung scored two goals. Most of Korea’s plays were on the right side, which gave Gue Sung more attention than Heung-min. Despite their efforts, Korea lost to Ghana 2-3.

Moving on, Korea had a match with Portugal on December 2nd. The win prediction was in Portugal’s favor; however, Korea beat the odds with a 2-1 win. Korea had 13 shots, with only six being on target, and the same with Portugal. As expected, Heung-min and Gue Sung had an excellent performance. Even though both players didn’t get the opportunity to score, Heung-min pulled a fantastic assist. It is safe to say that for this game, the whole team pulled through. Despite the score, Portugal was already going through the Round of 16, so they were at ease in the game. 

The main factor determining if Korea was moving forward was the result of the Uruguay vs. Ghana match. Korea’s match ended before Uruguay, so Korea was second in Group H. At this point, Uruguay was winning against Ghana 2-0. If Uruguay scored one more goal, Uruguay would have moved up to second. Everyone was on edge watching the last seven minutes of the match. The match ended 2-0 in Uruguay’s favor securing Korea’s spot in the Round of 16. Unfortunately, Ghana and Uruguay were eliminated, while Portugal and Korea advanced.

Knowing they were moving forward, Korea’s Team celebrated their victory by writing on their flag: “impossible is nothing.”