"Must Overtake at Least Two Teams"... Fate for Round of 32 Rests on These Matches

[Anchor]

Our fate now depends on the outcomes of the final three group matches taking place tomorrow, June 28. We are in a desperate situation where we must overtake at least two of the third-place teams from other groups to advance.

Reporter Lee Jung-chan explains the scenarios.

[Reporter]

Currently sitting in 8th place among the third-place teams across 12 groups, we need to finish ahead of at least two of the three teams that will play their final matches tomorrow in Groups K, J, and L to secure a spot in the Round of 32.

First, in the Group L match starting at 6:00 AM, if 2nd-place Ghana defeats 3rd-place Croatia, we will move up one spot as we hold a better goal difference than Croatia.

Since both teams recorded identical 1-0 victories against Panama, a close match is expected.

The following Group K finale is the match we are most hopeful about.

If Uzbekistan beats the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or if the two teams draw, our hopes will be revived.

If the desired results do not materialize in the previous two groups, we will have to anxiously watch the final match in Group J, which begins at 11:00 AM.

2nd-place Austria and 3rd-place Algeria, both currently holding a record of one win and one loss, will face off. If Austria wins, or if Algeria wins by a margin of two goals or more, we could potentially complete a miracle by surpassing the third-place team in goal difference.

However, expectations are not very high, as both teams could advance to the Round of 32 with just a draw.

Our national team spent today resting and recharging without any training sessions.

Following the poor performance against South Africa, the number of fans visiting the team's lodging has dropped sharply, and the probability of reaching the Round of 32, as estimated by a leading statistics firm, has been falling day by day to just 30 percent. Nevertheless, we cannot afford to give up.

The national team will rise again tomorrow and run toward hope.

(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok, Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, Design: Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.