Son Heung-min, Will He Score the Most Goals and Consecutive Goals in the World Cup? Bento Team's Challenge to Overcome the 'South America Jinx'

On the 18th, two days before the opening of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Son Heung-min of the national team is warming up by running on the field at Al Egla Training Ground in Doha, Qatar. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] 'Son-sational' Son Heung-min is aiming at the World Cup goal while wearing a mask. Attention is focused on whether he will write an unprecedented new record in the history of Korean football with his feet.

On the 19th, the Korea Football Association summarized the various records that the Korean national football team is challenging in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Son Heung-min's challenge naturally draws attention. Son Heung-min scored 3 goals from the 2014 Brazil World Cup to the 2018 Russia World Cup. He scored against Algeria in 2014, and Mexico and Germany in 2018. Before Son Heung-min, the record of 3 goals in total at the World Cup was held by Ahn Jung-hwan and Park Ji-sung. Both have retired from playing and have no opportunity to increase their records. Every time Son Heung-min scores in this tournament, it will soon become history. If he scores in the first group stage match against Uruguay on the 24th, he will set a rare record of scoring in 3 consecutive World Cup matches following the 2018 Mexico-Germany group stage matches, and scoring in three consecutive tournaments in 2014, 2018, and 2022.

However, whether Son Heung-min will play in the first match remains to be seen. Earlier this month, he suffered an orbital fracture in the last group stage match of the UEFA Champions League against Marseille (France) while playing for Tottenham Hotspur (England). Although he has not fully recovered yet, Son Heung-min is participating in national team training wearing a mask made by Tottenham. There is no major problem with kicking and running with the ball, but if it is judged that heading duels or concentration would be strained, there is a possibility he will rest in the first match against Uruguay.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Along with Son Heung-min, the Bento-led team is also challenging to set various records or break jinxes.

The first challenge is to overcome the 'South American jinx.' It will be decided from the first match against Uruguay. Korean football has never beaten a South American team in the World Cup. Since their first appearance in the 1954 Switzerland World Cup, Korea has played 34 matches on the World Cup stage and won 6 times. They have 5 wins against European teams and 1 win against African teams. However, they have never beaten South American or North and Central American teams, with a record of 2 draws and 6 losses.

The most recent match against a South American team was the round of 16 match against Uruguay in the 2010 South Africa tournament. At that time, the national team lost 1-2 after conceding two goals to Uruguay’s star striker Luis Su?rez.

In the second match against Ghana, Korea must hunt for their first win in the second group stage match. Korea has never won a second group stage match in the World Cup. Of the 6 wins Korea has achieved in the World Cup, 3 were in the first group stage matches. They have 2 wins in the third matches and 1 win in the round of 16.

If Korea beats both Uruguay and Ghana, they will secure a place in the round of 16 and achieve the first-ever '3 consecutive wins in the World Cup.' This would be the first time since the 2018 Russia tournament when Korea defeated Germany 2-0, achieving 3 consecutive wins. In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, where Korea reached the semifinals, they consecutively defeated Portugal (1-0) and Italy (2-1), and after a close match in the quarterfinals, also defeated Spain, but the match was decided by penalty shootout and officially recorded as a draw.

Additionally, attention is on whether Korea will achieve the 'more than 1 goal per match' statistic in the World Cup. Since the 1954 Switzerland tournament, Korea has scored exactly 34 goals in 34 matches. If Korea scores more goals than the number of matches in this tournament, the average goals per match will exceed 1 for the first time in 68 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.