Germany crash out of World Cup despite 4-2 defeat of Costa Rica
Portugal play South Korea in the World Cup Group H decider at Education City Stadium.
Son Heung-min and his teammates must win here to stand a chance of making the last 16, while Cristiano Ronaldo and the Selecao need a point to guarantee top spot.
The winner of the group faces the runner up from Group G (Brazil, Switzerland, Cameroon, Serbia), while the runner-up will play the winner, likely to be the South Americans, with the five-time winners the current favourites.
The pressure is on the Taegeuk Warriors after defeat to the Black Stars, while Portugal had too much for Uruguay last time out.
Follow the action with our live blog below, including Ghana vs Uruguay updates:
South Korea vs Portugal
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South Korea vs Portugal
The fans seem up for this one. South Korea’s travelling contingent in particular are flocking to the Education City stadium to see if their team get sneak into the knockout stages.
(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:26
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South Korea vs Portugal
Portugal’s only defeat in five previous meetings with Asian sides at the World Cup came against South Korea in 2002 with the Portuguese having won three and drawn one of their other four matches versus Asian opponents.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:23
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South Korea vs Portugal
The only previous meeting between South Korea and Portugal was at the 2002 World Cup.
The co-hosts won 1-0 through a goal by Park Ji-sung after a Portugal team including South Korea head coach Paulo Bento had Joao Pinto and Beto sent off.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:20
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South Korea vs Portugal
Portugal have already qualified for the knockout rounds at the 2022 World having already beaten Ghana and Uruguay. They are lookgin to win all three group stage matches for just the third time having done so in 1966 and 2006.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:17
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‘The devil himself’: Ghana target World Cup revenge against Luis Suarez and Uruguay
Luis Suarez has been known to lose his temper but he sat there calmly and listened as he was told people in Ghana consider him the devil. Lest there was any scope for misunderstanding, it was translated into his native tongue: El Diablo.
A dozen years on, El Diablo remained unapologetic for one of his more notorious deeds. It is Uruguay against Ghana, the rematch, on Friday and if the stakes are high now, with the loser certain to go out of the World Cup, they were bigger still in 2010. It was the 120th minute of the quarter-final when the forward who is now Uruguay’s record goalscorer turned goalkeeper, handling to prevent Dominic Adiyah’s header from making Ghana Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalist. Exit Suarez, sent off, only for him to celebrate enthusiastically when Asamoah Gyan ballooned the resulting spot kick over the bar.
Suarez’s stance has remained consistent. “I don’t apologise about that,” he said. “I take the handball but the Ghana player misses a penalty, not me. Maybe I can say apologise if I take a tackle and injure a player and take a red card but in this situation, I take a red card and the referee says penalty. It is not my fault because I don’t miss the penalty. It is not my responsibility to shoot the penalty.”
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:13
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South Korea vs Portugal team changes
Paulo Bento makes three changes to the South Korean side that lost to Ghana last time out. Kwon Kyung-won, Lee Kang-in and Lee Jae-Sung all come into the starting XI.
Fernando Santos meanwhile changes six of the Portugal team that secured qualification to the last-16. Diogo Dalot and Antonio Silva start in defence with Matheus Nunes and Vitinha brought into the midfield.
Joao Mario and Ricardo Horta start alongside Cristiano Ronaldo up top.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:07
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Why is Son Heung-min wearing a mask for South Korea at World Cup?
The 30-year-old was forced off injured in the first-half of the 2-1 win over OM on 1 November and subsequently required surgery.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 14:00
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South Korea vs Portgual line-ups
South Korea XI: Kim Seung-gyu, Kim, Kwon, Kim Young-Gwon, Kim, Jungo Woo-Young, Hwang, Lee, Lee Jae-Sung, Son, Cho
Portugal XI: Costa, Dalot, Pepe, Silva, Cancelo, Neves, Nunes, Vitinha, Mario, Ronaldo, Horta
Michael Jones2 December 2022 13:55
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‘An absolute catastrophe’: Germany plunged into identity crisis after World Cup exit
A few minutes had passed since the kind of scenario that, until a few years ago, no one under the age of 80 had witnessed, and Thomas Muller was waving. Germany had gone out of the World Cup at the first hurdle, just as they did in 2018, and Muller seemed to be waving goodbye to their supporters. It was a chastening end for a genuine Germany great.
It will not be remembered as the night he drew level with his former teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger on 121 caps. Not when Germany were eliminated and Muller described his fourth and final World Cup as “an absolute catastrophe”.
Like Manuel Neuer, Muller has straddled eras. He was a star of the glorious past, a struggler in the sorry present. He was always an enormously symbolic figure; the big-game player with the sharp footballing brain, he was parachuted into the 2010 team at 20 and scored five goals.
He got five more as they won the 2014 World Cup. But he has failed to score in group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022. Far from breaking his former sidekick Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals, he remains the second-highest scoring Muller, after his namesake Gerd. He seemed destined to cruise past Jurgen Klinsmann’s total of 11. Now he never will.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 13:53
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Bruno Fernandes responds after Cristiano Ronaldo claims his World Cup goal
It initially looked as though Cristiano Ronaldo had drawn level with Portugal’s record World Cup goalscorer Eusebio when he rose to try and head in Fernandes’ 54th-minute cross.
Michael Jones2 December 2022 13:49