South Korea national football team

• 1. Introduction

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  South Korea's national football team spent its first five World Cup appearances without winning a single match. For a team that would go on to become Asia's most decorated World Cup participant, that stretch of futility is the first thing worth understanding. How did a squad that couldn't win a tournament game transform into the only Asian side ever to reach a World Cup semi-final? The answer runs through co-hosted tournaments, a fiercely passionate supporter culture, and rivalries that stretch far beyond the football pitch.

• 2. The 2002 Breakthrough

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  When South Korea co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup alongside Japan, the team did something no Asian nation had managed before or since. They reached the semi-finals, becoming the first and, as of the source, the only Asian team to achieve that feat in the tournament's history. The run rewrote expectations for what football from the continent could look like on the world stage. The FIFA Fan Fest format was also introduced at that 2002 tournament in South Korea, a format that would go on to define how fans gather around the game at World Cups globally.

• 3. Asian Dominance and Records

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  South Korea has participated in eleven FIFA World Cup tournaments overall, including ten consecutive appearances, the most of any Asian country. Beyond the World Cup, the team has won the AFC Asian Cup twice and finished as runners-up four times. At the senior Asian Games, South Korea collected three gold medals and three silver medals. Their first ever home match was played at the Dongdaemun Stadium on the 21st of April 1956, a qualifier for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup against the Philippines.

• 4. Rivalries Across the Continent

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  Japan is South Korea's greatest rival, a contest rooted in a broader national competition between the two countries that has occasionally produced controversy. South Korea leads that all-time head-to-head record with 42 wins, 23 draws, and 17 losses. Iran presents a different kind of rivalry: the two sides have met officially since 1958, and across 33 matches as of March 2022 they have crossed paths in eleven World Cup qualifiers alone. Five consecutive Asian Cup quarter-final meetings between 1996 and 2011 ended with each team recording two wins, two losses, and a draw. Australia became a third major rival, and the 2015 Asian Cup final between them ended 2-1 in Australia's favor after extra time, delivering Australia their first ever Asian championship. China failed to beat South Korea in competitive matches for 32 years before finally ending that run in 2010.

• 5. The Red Devils and Kit History

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  Red has been South Korea's traditional shirt color since the team's early years, and the nickname the "Reds" followed naturally. The official supporters' group, the Red Devils, was founded in 1995 and is commonly called the 12th man for their vocal presence. Their most recognized chant is accompanied by five claps. The home shirt color shifted briefly to white in 1994 before red was restored in October 1995, paired with black shorts. South Korea wore the national flag as their shirt badge until 2001, when a tiger crest was unveiled. On the 5th of February 2020, the Korea Football Association announced a redesigned logo that kept the tiger but placed it in a more minimalist form inside a rectangular frame, retaining red, blue, and white.

• 6. Commercial Growth Through Nike

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  South Korea's first official kit sponsor was Adidas, a relationship that began in 1977 without exclusivity, followed by a long-term deal signed in 1987 with Weekend, a brand that renamed itself Rapido in January 1988. Nike took over at the end of 1995 and has sponsored the team since the 1st of January 1996. The financial scale of those Nike contracts traces the sport's commercial expansion: the 1996-1997 deal was worth $3 million total, the 1998-2002 contract reached $38 million, and by the 2020-2031 agreement the total had climbed to $204 million, at $17 million annually. Head coach Hong Myung-bo currently leads the squad, supported by a coaching staff that includes assistant coach Joao Aroso and tactical coach Tiago Maia.