South Korea players and coaching staff celebrate after the match as South Korea qualify for the knockout stages
South Korea players and coaching staff celebrate after the match as South Korea qualify for the knockout stages
Football

South Korea beat Portugal to squeeze into next round at World Cup

Reuters Al Rayyan, Qatar

South Korea scored an added time goal to beat already-qualified Portugal 2-1 at the World Cup in a comeback win that sent the Asian side into the last 16 ahead of Uruguay on the number of goals scored.

With the clock ticking down on South Korea's time in the tournament, striker Son Heung-min ran free after a Portugal corner in added time and slipped a pass to Hwang Hee-chan who fired past Diogo Costa to spark wild celebrations

After an early opener by Ricardo Horta for Portugal, Kim Young-gwon gave the Koreans hope in the 27th minute when a corner struck Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo on the back and fell kindly for the defender to sweep the ball home.

The last-gasp victory for South Korea catapulted them from fourth to second place in Group H ahead of Uruguay, who beatGhana 2-0 in the group's other game but failed to score enough goals to finish above the Asians. Portugal top the group.

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