South Korea at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is North America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1989, the tournament was known as CONCACAF Championship.[1] It is currently held every two years.[2] From 1996 to 2005, nations from other confederations have regularly joined the tournament as invitees. In earlier editions, the continental championship was held in different countries, but since the inception of the Gold Cup in 1991, the United States are constant hosts or co-hosts.
From 1973 to 1989, the tournament doubled as the confederation's World Cup qualification. CONCACAF's representative team at the FIFA Confederations Cup was decided by a play-off between the winners of the last two tournament editions in 2015 via the CONCACAF Cup, but was then discontinued along with the Confederations Cup.[3]
Since the inaugural tournament in 1963, the Gold Cup was held 26 times and has been won by seven different nations, most often by Mexico (11 titles).
South Korea are the only Asian team to ever participate in the North American continental championships and have done so twice: consecutively in 2000 and 2002. In seven matches, they failed to win a single one in regular time, but won Fourth Place in 2002 after advancing to the knockout stage with only one point to their name and defeating Mexico on penalties in the quarter-finals. Two years prior, they were eliminated after the group stage per coin toss. Canada advanced instead and eventually won the 2000 edition.
Record[]
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA |
 2000 |
Group stage | 9th | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2002 |
Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Total | 2 | 20/27 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Match overview[]
| Tournament | Round | Opponent | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |
Group stage |  Canada |
0–0 | Los Angeles |
 Costa Rica |
2–2 | |||
| 2002 |
Group stage | United States |
1–2 | Pasadena |
 Cuba |
0–0 | |||
| Quarter-final |  Mexico |
0–0 (4–2 pen.) | ||
| Semi-final | Costa Rica |
1–3 | ||
| Third place | Canada |
1–2 |
Squads[]
|  | |
| | |
Record players[]
Lee Young-pyo is the only player who was fielded in all seven of South Korea's Gold Cup matches. In 2002, Song Chong-gug was the only player to play through the entirety of Korea's Fourth-Place-run. In the same year, Kim Nam-il was voted into the tournament's Best XI, becoming the first and only Asian player to be honoured at a North American continental championship.
| No. | Name | Matches | Minutes | Gold Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Young-pyo | 7 | 588 | 2000 and 2002 |
| 2 | Kim Tae-young | 6 | 570 | 2000 and 2002 |
| 3 | Song Chong-gug | 5 | 480 | 2002 |
| Lee Eul-yong | 5 | 370 | 2002 | |
| 5 | Kim Nam-il | 4 | 383 | 2002 |
| Cha Du-Ri | 4 | 372 | 2002 | |
| Kim Byung-Ji | 4 | 360 | 2000 and 2002 | |
| Choi Jin-cheul | 4 | 356 | 2002 | |
| Yoo Sang-chul | 4 | 330 | 2000 and 2002 | |
| Kim Do-keun | 4 | 228 | 2002 | |
| Lee Dong-gook | 4 | 220 | 2000 and 2002 |
Top scorers[]
Five players have scored one goal each at the tournaments. Three of them have been scored against Costa Rica.
| Tournament | Name | Stage | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |
Lee Dong-gook | Group stage | Costa Rica |
1–0 | 2–2 |
| Lee Min-sung | 2–1 | ||||
| 2002 |
Song Chong-gug | Group stage | United States |
1–1 | 1–2 |
| Choi Jin-cheul | Semi-final | Costa Rica |
1–2 | 1–3 | |
| Kim Do-hoon | Third place | Canada |
1–0 | 1–2 |
References[]
- ^ Wiebe, Andrew. "Gold Cup 101: What it is, why it matters, and how to follow along this summer", MLSsoccer.com, 07 July 2015. Retrieved on 26 October 2018.
- ^ "About the CONCACAF Gold Cup", goldcup.org, 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ CONCACAF (official) "Playoff Match between USA and Mexico [..."], concacaf.com, 07 August 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
External links[]
- Countries at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
- South Korea national football team