South Korea has failed to advance to the round of 16 at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023.
Byun Sung-hwan’s men will face Burkina Faso in their final Group E match at 9 p.m. ET on Aug. 18, but the result of their Group F match earlier in the day confirmed their elimination.
In the tournament, where 24 countries are divided into six groups, the four best-performing teams from the first, second and third places in each group will advance to the round of 16.
In the final Group F matches, Mexico defeated New Zealand 4-0 and Germany defeated Venezuela 3-0.
Third place in Group F went to Venezuela, who finished with four points from one win, one draw, and one loss, and finished fourth in the standings among the top three teams in each group.
As a result, South Korea will not be able to advance to the round of 16 even if they win against Burkina Faso.
After losing both the first and second games, even if South Korea earned three points in the third game, it would not be able to finish in the top four in the standings between the six best teams in the group.
Byun Sung-hwan was determined to play attacking soccer against the world’s top teams and go beyond the quarterfinals, which would have been his best ever performance.
However, defensive faltering and bad luck in front of goal prevented them from achieving their goal.
In the first match against the U.S., he found the back of the net twice and lost 1-3, and in the second match against France, he dominated the second half but hit the post once and lost 0-1. 사설토토