Ji So-yeon and other members of the South Korea women’s national soccer team walk off the pitch after their 0-1 loss to Morocco during the Australia-New Zealand Women’s World Cup 2023 group stage match at Hindmarsh Stadium on July 27, 2018 in Adelaide, Australia.
South Korea’s women’s soccer team, which had hoped to reach the round of 16 for the first time in eight years, has suffered back-to-back defeats amid disappointing performances. With their chances of making it out of the group now virtually nil, the team (17th in the FIFA rankings) will face favorites Germany (2nd in the FIFA rankings) in their third group game. They’re too strong a team to get their hopes up. For now, they must prepare with a sense of urgency to avoid the worst.
Colin Bell’s South Korea lost 0-1 against Morocco (ranked 72nd) in their second Group H match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia on March 30.
South Korea, who lost 0-2 in their first match against Colombia on Sept. 25, were also beaten by Morocco today, leaving them at the bottom of the group with two losses (0 points). The Taeguk Nangja, who threw down the gauntlet with a cry of ‘high intensity’, have been left with a serious hole in their defense, failing to score a single goal in two games.
When the lid is lifted, Group H is in chaos. Colombia has defied expectations and sits atop the table with two wins (6 points), while Germany and Morocco are tied at 1-1 (3 points).
South Korea, who were considered a strong dark horse, have lost two straight games and are already out of the running for a spot in the round of 16. Of course, it’s still a real possibility, but it’s also a low-probability scenario.
Park Eun-sun of South Korea celebrates her header during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 group stage match between Morocco and South Korea at Hindmarsh Stadium on July 27 in Adelaide, Australia.
A win over Morocco would give Colombia three points and the other three teams one or two points, but South Korea would need to beat Germany by a very large margin to reach the round of 16.
With Germany currently at +5 and South Korea at ?3 in goal differential, this is unlikely. That means South Korea, which didn’t even score a goal against Colombia and Morocco, would have to win by more than five goals against Germany, which is virtually impossible.
With their final group game against Germany coming up next month at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, at 7 p.m., South Korea will need to find some kind of form.
Win or lose, the women’s soccer team has been preparing for this tournament for the past four years under Bell’s leadership, and the final group game will require a different performance.
Meanwhile, their final opponent, Germany, is one of Europe’s most dominant teams. They have appeared in all nine World Cup finals and won back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles in 2003 in the United States and 2007 in China.
They have also finished on top of the European Championships 11 times. Although they lost to Colombia on a late stoppage-time theater goal, Germany is still a formidable team.
Even with a 1-1 record, Germany needs a win against South Korea to advance out of the group, so they’ll likely come out on top.
South Korea women’s national soccer team head coach Colleen Bell gives instructions during an exhibition match between the South Korean women’s national soccer team and Haiti at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on July 8.
The women’s soccer team is in a different situation, but it’s worth remembering the men’s team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. After back-to-back losses to Sweden and Mexico, Shin Tae-yong-ho’s team was eliminated from the group stage, but the best possible ending came with a 2-0 victory over Germany, then ranked No. 1 in the FIFA rankings.
Although they failed to advance to the round of 16, Shin and the Taegeuk Warriors were able to return home with a smile on their faces.
The ball is now in their court. After four years of hard work, 스포츠토토 many fans are eager to see how the women’s national team will perform against the mighty Germans.
