South Korea reach 10th straight World Cup finals
South Korea beat Syria 2-0 in Dubai on Tuesday to reach their 10th straight World Cup finals.
The Koreans, who have appeared at every finals since Mexico in 1986 and came fourth when they co-hosted the tournament in 2002, go to Qatar alongside Iran, who had already clinched a place from Asia’s preliminary Group A.
Even without injured English Premier League star Son Heung-Min, Paulo Bento’s side dominated the game but they did came close to scoring until forward Cho Gue Sung’s shot from close in went wide in the 43rd minute.
Kim Jin-Su opened the scoring with a 54th minute shot that gave Syrian goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma no chance.
Kwon Chang-Hoon shot from outside the penalty area to double the score in the 74th minute.
Iran beat Iraq last Thursday to reach their third straight finals.
The third-place teams from Asia’s two qualifying groups will clash in a playoff for the right to play a South American team for a place in Qatar.
The first World Cup finals in an Arab country will start in Qatar on November 21.
South Korea have a history of World Cup upsets. They knocked out Italy to reach the semi-finals in 2002 and at the last World Cup in Russia beat Germany 2-0 but failed to reach the knockout rounds.