Hong Myung-bo's Korea, seeking to advance to the round of 32 as a third-place team, has been pushed to the brink. With Senegal and Iran both dramatically earning points in their final matches, Korea has settled into 8th place among third-place teams that can still advance to the round of 32.
Senegal beat Iraq 5-0 in the final Group I match of the tournament's group stage, held Friday at Toronto Stadium in Canada.
Securing their first win after two losses, Senegal (three points, plus-two goal difference) rose to 5th in the live third-place standings, keeping their hopes of advancing to the round of 32 alive.
In the final Group H matches that followed, Spain defeated Uruguay 1-0 and Cape Verde drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia. Spain, with two wins and one draw, secured seven points to clinch first place in the group. Cape Verde (three points, even goal difference), one of the tournament's surprise teams, pushed past Uruguay (two points, minus-one goal difference) to advance to the round of 32 as the group runner-up. Uruguay, with only two points, finished 11th in the third-place standings and were eliminated from the group stage.
In the final Group G match, Belgium (five points, plus-four goal difference) crushed New Zealand (one point, minus-six goal difference) 5-1 to advance to the round of 32 as group winners. The match between Egypt and Iran ended 1-1. Egypt, with one win and two draws, tied Belgium on points but advanced as group runner-up to the round of 32, trailing by two goals on goal difference. Iran, with three points and an even goal difference, finished 6th in the third-place standings, keeping their chances of advancing to the round of 32 alive.
With strong performances from Senegal and Iran, Korea has settled into 8th place, the cutoff among the teams competing for third-place spots. Currently, the only teams clearly below Korea are Scotland (three points, minus-three goal difference) and Uruguay.
In the schedule on June 28, Korea will be hoping that current third-place teams Algeria (three points, minus-two goal difference), Croatia (three points, minus-one goal difference) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (one point, minus-one goal difference) accumulate fewer points or fall further behind on goal difference than Hong Myung-bo's side.
Meanwhile, if Korea advances to the round of 32, they will face Group G winners Belgium in Seattle, United States, on July 2. According to the tournament bracket, the third-place team from Group A will face the Group E winner in Boston, United States, on June 30, or the Group G winner in Seattle, United States, on July 2.
FIFA confirmed that day that the Group E winner's opponent will be Group D's third-place team, Paraguay. As a result, if Korea advances to the round of 32, they will head to Seattle.
