World Cup 2022 – South Korea 2-1 Portugal: Hee-Chan Hwang’s late winner sends Koreans through to last 16 | Football News

December 2, 2022 admin

South Korea dramatically reached the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup on goals scored after Hee-Chan Hwang struck a 91st-minute winner to beat Portugal 2-1 in Al Rayyan.

Only twice before in their history had South Korea advanced to the knockout stages of the World Cup, but Wolves forward Hwang came off the bench to send reverberations from the Education City Stadium to Seoul in dramatic fashion as he latched onto Heung-Min Son’s pass to slot past Diogo Costa (90+1).

Portugal, already qualified for the last 16 and needing only a draw to be sure of top spot in the group, grabbed the lead with a fifth-minute goal from Ricardo Horta, who met a Diogo Dalot cross and hammered it home from close range.

Young-Gwon Kim gave the Taeguk Warriors a lifeline after pouncing on a bouncing ball in the goalmouth and hooking it into the net (27).

Uruguay were beating Ghana 2-0, meaning South Korea needed only to beat Portugal to reach the last 16 on goals scored – and in the first minute of stoppage time, Hwang obliged.

More to follow…

Player ratings

South Korea: Seung-Gyu Kim (6), Moon-Hwan Kim (6), Kyung-Won Kwon (6), Young-Gwon Kim (7), Jin-Su Kim (7), Jung, In-Beom Hwang (6), Kang-In Lee (6), Jae-Sung Lee (5), Heung-Min Son (7), Gue-Sung Cho (6).

Subs: Hee-Chan Hwang (7), Jun-Ho Son (n/a), Eui-Jo Hwang (n/a).

Portugal: Costa (6), Dalot (8), Pepe (6), Silva (7), Joao Cancelo (7), Matheus Luiz (6), Neves (7), Vitinha (7), Joao Mario (6), Ronaldo (6), Ricardo Horta (7).

Subs: Joao Palhinha (6), Andre Silva (6), Bernardo Silva (n/a), William Carvalho (n/a), Leao (6).

Man of the match: Diogo Dalot.

Big moments in the game…

5 min: Portugal grab the lead with a fifth minute goal from Ricardo Horta
27 min: Korea equalise off a corner with Kim pouncing on a bouncing ball in the goalmouth and hooking it into the net
44 min: Horta swivels and shoots straight at Seung-Gyu Kim
65 min: Ronaldo, Neves and Nunes come off in a triple switch for Portugal. Andre Silva, Leao and Palhinha replace them
90+1 min: Son Heung-min runs free after a Portugal corner in added time and slips a pass to Hwang Hee-chan to score

What does the result mean?

Portugal top the group on six points while South Korea join them having finished second in Group H. Uruguay are eliminated despite their victory over Ghana.

Portugal will now face the runners-up of Group G, who are currently Switzerland, on Tuesday December 6 – Kick-off 7pm.

South Korea are likely to take on Group G winners Brazil on Monday December 5 – Kick-off 7pm.

Team news

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal’s attack against South Korea at the World Cup on Friday despite having to train separately from the rest of the team this week but Fernando Santos made six changes to the side that beat Uruguay on Monday.
Portugal, needing only a draw to be sure of top spot in Group H and mindful of the risk of yellow-card suspensions in the next round, brought Diogo Dalot and Antonio Silva into the defence.
Matheus Nunes, Vitinha and Joao Mario come into the midfield in place of Bernardo Silva, William Carvalho and Bruno Fernandes – who scored twice in the 2-0 win over Uruguay – while Ricardo Horta replaces Joao Felix up front.
South Korea’s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento left out central defender Kim Min-jae, who was an injury doubt, and replaced him with Kwon Kyung-won, while Lee Jae-sung and Lee Kang-in were drafted into midfield.

What else is happening at the World Cup on Friday?

Cameroon vs Brazil – Kick Off 7pm
Serbia vs Switzerland – Kick Off 7pm

With two wins from two, Brazil are through to the last 16 – although they still require a point to be absolutely sure of group winners status. But who will progress with them? Cameroon, Switzerland and Serbia still have hope.

Simply because they must face Brazil in their final fixture, Cameroon’s route to the last four looks the hardest – but, that said, a win against Brazil should be enough for qualification even if Switzerland reach four points with a draw against Serbia, so long as the draw is a low-scoring encounter (Cameroon’s current goal difference is minus 1, Switzerland’s is level, but Cameroon have scored more goals).

But provided Cameroon don’t shock Brazil on Friday night, and only a win could be enough for the Africans to reach the knockout stage, then the stage is set for a winner-takes-all clash between Switzerland and Serbia which Serbia have to win to progress while Switzerland will only require a point to secure qualification.

Were Cameroon and Serbia to both win, they would finish level on points and the runners-up berth would be determined by goal difference. Serbia’s is currently minus 2.

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