On the brink, Byun tries to pull off a miracle round of 16.
The South Korea U-17 football team, led by Byun Sung-hwan, will face Burkina Faso in their final Group E match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 on Monday (June 18) at the Jalan Harupat Stadium in Soreang, Indonesia.
South Korea currently has two losses. They lost their first match 1-3 against the United States and then fell 0-1 in their second match against France. There’s no way they’ll make it to the round of 16 on their own.
The best-case scenario for South Korea to reach the round of 16 is to finish higher than the third-placed team. They can only reach the next stage as a wildcard.
The current third-place finishers in Groups A through F are Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Korea. Of these, Iran, Japan, and Uzbekistan have already qualified for the round of 16.
Even if South Korea wins against Burkina Faso, they won’t be able to overtake Iran, Japan, and Uzbekistan, who all have four or more points. They will need to unseat Indonesia, which has two draws and one loss, and only two points.
There are conditions that need to be met before a win against Burkina Faso. Mexico, who play first, must not win their final match against New Zealand. With one draw and one loss, they need to tie or lose to the Kiwis first, as a win would give them four points.
This is where things get complicated if New Zealand wins by a big margin against Mexico. New Zealand has two losses and a goal differential of -5. South Korea has two losses and a goal differential of -3. At this point, the best-case scenario is for New Zealand to tie Mexico or win by a small margin.
Then South Korea can take the pressure off and face Burkina Faso. There’s no guarantee of a win against them, but at least they’ll have the conditions to write the last-minute drama.
South Korea were unlucky to lose their last two games against the United States and France, hitting the post a total of three times. With Japan, who they faced in the final of the last Asian Games, already in the round of 16, South Korea will need to be motivated for the last wild card spot. 무지개토토 도메인
South Korea, meanwhile, reached the quarterfinals of the tournament four years ago. The last time they were eliminated in the group stage was 16 years ago at the 2007 tournament in Korea.