Road to Qatar: how South Korea qualified for World Cup 2022

How Son Heung-min and Co sealed their place at the finals

South Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates after their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Iran at Seoul World Cup Stadium on March 24, 2022. Getty

Son Heung-min celebrates with his South Korea teammates after the match. Getty

Hwang Ui-Jo of South Korea challenges Iran goalkeeper Amir Abed Zadeh. Getty

South Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their first goal. Reuters

South Korea's Kwon Chang-hoon attempts to charge down a clearance by Iran goalkeeper Amir Abed Zadeh. AFP

South Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring. EPA

South Korea's Son Heung-Min under pressure from Shojae Khalilzadeh of Iran. Getty

South Korea's Kim Young-gwon celebrates after scoring the second. AFP

South Korea's Son Heung-min and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh of Iran. AP

South Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring. EPA

South Korea made it an impressive 10 World Cups in a row after qualifying for the finals in Qatar with two group games still to play.

A 2-0 win over Syria in Dubai, coming hot-on-the-heels of a 1-0 victory over Lebanon, meant Paulo Bento's side became the 15th nation to qualify for the 32-team tournament.

Talismanic striker Son Heung-min led the way in both the qualification groups scoring seven goals in total and the Tottenham Hotspur attacker now has 34 in 103 appearances for his country.

“[Son’s] always motivated to play for the national team and has ambitions to make good things happen and make people happy. And, of course, he has the support of all the other players which makes his job easier,” said Portuguese coach Bento of his star striker.

“But the most important thing is we all work together and play as a team, and the good results the players are achieving make the role of captain much easier.”

In Qatar, South Korea were drawn in Group alongside H alongside Portugal, Ghana and Uruguay.

South Korea's fixtures in Qatar

November 24 Uruguay v South Korea – Education City Stadium (5pm)

November 28 South Korea v Ghana – Education City Stadium (5pm)

December 2 South Korea v Portugal – Education City Stadium (7pm)

Qualifying results

Second round (Group H)

September 10, 2019 Turkmenistan 0 South Korea 2 (Na Sang-ho 13', Jung Woo-young 82')

October 10, 2019 South Korea 8 (Son Heung-min 10', pen 45+5', Kim Shin-wook 17', 30', 54', 64', Hwang Hee-chan 20', Kwon Chang-hoon 76') Sri Lanka 0

October 15, 2019 North Korea 0 South Korea 0 (Match voided after North Korea withdrew from competition)

November 14, 2019 Lebanon 0 South Korea 0

June 5, 2021 South Korea 5 (Hwang Ui-jo 9', 72', Nam Tae-hee 45+2', Kim Young-gwon 56', Kwon Chang-hoon 62') Turkmenistan 0

June 9, 2021 Sri Lanka 0 South Korea 5 (Kim Shin-wook 14', pen 42', Lee Dong-gyeong 22', Hwang Hee-chan 53', Jeong Sang-bin 77')

June 15, 2021 South Korea 2 (Sabra og 50', Son Heung-min 65') Lebanon 1 (Saad 12')

Third round (Group A)

September 2, 2021 South Korea 0 Iraq 0

September 7, 2021 South Korea 1 (Kwon Chang-hoon 59') Lebanon 0

October 7, 2021 South Korea 2 (Hwang In-beom 47', Son Heung-min 88') Syria 1 (Khribin 83')

October 12, 2021 Iran 1 (Jahanbakhsh 76') South Korea 1 (Son Heung-min 48')

November 11, 2021 South Korea 1 (Hwang Hee-chan pen 36') UAE 0

November 16, 2021 Iraq 0 South Korea 3 (Lee Jae-sung 33', Son Heung-min pen 74', Jeong Woo-yeong 80')

January 27, 2022 Lebanon 0 South Korea 1 (Cho Gue-sung 45+1')

February 1, 2022 Syria 0 South Korea 2 (Kim Jin-su 53', Kwon Chang-hoon 71')

March 24, 2022 South Korea 2 (Son Heung-min 45+2', Kim Young-gwon 62') Iran 0

March 29, 2022 UAE 1 (Abdallah 54') South Korea 0