An ‘early exit’ after just two group games is likely. Even if they make it to the final in dramatic fashion, they’ll need a record-breaking win over the favorites to advance to the round of 16. This is the current state of the Women’s World Cup for the South Korean women’s soccer team, which has been touting its best-ever performance.
Head coach Colleen Bell’s side fell 0-1 to Morocco in their second Group H match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on Tuesday (Sept. 30) at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia. South Korea is ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings, significantly higher than Morocco (72nd), and the loss was a “shocker” for Morocco, which is making its first appearance at a World Cup.
After a 0-2 loss to Colombia in their first group game, South Korea is now winless in two games (0 points) and at the bottom of the group. With 0 goals scored and 3 conceded, they have a goal difference of -3. Morocco, which celebrated its first ever World Cup goal and first ever win against South Korea, moved into third place ahead of South Korea with three points (D1, L1) and a goal difference of -5. With just one game remaining, South Korea’s maximum points in the tournament are just three.
South Korea’s fate will be determined by the Germany-Colombia match at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Germany is ranked No. 2 in the FIFA rankings, while Colombia is No. 25, and if Germany loses to Colombia, South Korea will be eliminated early, regardless of the outcome of the final game. Germany leads South Korea with six points, and at least one of the teams facing off in the final match, Colombia-Morocco (with three or more points), will have at least four points.
Only a shock loss to Colombia by FIFA’s No. 2 ranked and favorite Germany would keep South Korea’s chances of reaching the round of 16 alive. But even that would be a cruel form of wishful thinking. South Korea’s final opponent is Germany, a team that has not yet qualified for the round of 16. The match against Germany will be held on August 3 at 7 p.m. at Brisbane Stadium in Australia.
If South Korea beats Germany in a dramatic fashion, they will be level on three points (one win, two losses). If Morocco also loses to Colombia, Colombia will have 9 points (3 wins) and the other three teams will be tied on 3 points (1 win, 2 losses). Colombia would advance to the round of 16, and the three teams would fight for the remaining spot. According to the tournament rules, if the teams are tied on points, they will be ranked based on goal differential and goal difference throughout the group. 메이저사이트
The problem is that South Korea and Germany have a huge goal differential. South Korea has a goal differential of -3, while Germany already has a goal differential of +6. Even if Germany loses 0-3 against Colombia, they will play the last game of the tournament with a goal differential of -3 and +3, respectively. In addition to a scenario where South Korea beats the favorites, they would also need a multi-goal win to overturn the goal differential. This is no easy task given the objective power differential and South Korea’s empty net in the previous two games.
To sum up, it would take a miracle to pull off a record-breaking upset, even if it meant an upset of favorites Germany losing to Colombia and another upset of South Korea beating Germany in the final group game. Since the last tournament in 2015, 8