2022 World Cup: the profile of Paulo Bento’s Korea, Ghana’s opponent

The Black Stars of Ghana is set to take on South Korea in Group H at the World Cup in Qatar. The head coach for the South Koreans is Paulo Bento, Portugal’s coach from 2010 to 2014.

After an almost immaculate course (five wins, one draw and 22 goals scored and one conceded), in the 1st group stage, Paulo Bento’s team went to Group A, where he ensured with authority to be present in Qatar precisely two months ago.

They finished in second place behind Iran with 23 points, 11 more than the United Arab Emirates, who placed third and were relegated to the play-offs. At this stage they won seven, drew two and lost just one game: the last one, which allowed the Iranians to finish ahead. Son Heung-min , Tottenham’s forward, is the country’s star and was the Koreans’ top scorer in the campaign towards Qatar, with 7 goals.

This will be South Korea’s 11th World Cup appearance, 10th in a row. Only twice did it go beyond the group stage. In 2002, when he reached the semi-finals, leaving Portugal, Italy and Spain on the way, and in 2010, when they fell in the eighth at the feet of Uruguay (opponents in this group).