# South Korea v Germany (2018 FIFA World Cup)

South Korea v Germany was a FIFA World Cup group stage match that took place in Ak Bars Arena (then and still known as Kazan Arena) on 27 June 2018. The match is remembered in South Korea and Mexico as the Miracle of Kazan (Korean: 카잔의 기적, Spanish: Milagro de Kazan) and in Germany as the Shame of Kazan (German: Schande von Kasan) for its victory for the Koreans. Two goals, both happened in injury time of the second half by the Koreans, meant that South Korea had defeated Germany for the first time in any World Cup competitive match. The match is also important for many Mexicans, as this match helped rescuing Mexico from elimination after the Mexicans got a 0–3 score by the Swedes, which saw Mexican supporters flooded to celebrate in front of South Korean embassy in Mexico City as a gesture.

## Background

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | South Korea | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 | |
Before the match, South Korea was in the bottom of the group after two defeats to the hand of Sweden and Mexico. However, South Korea had not been eliminated from the competition, as the South Korean side could still qualify to the knockout stage, but only if Mexico managed to beat the Swedes and South Korea beat Germany by two goals or more, a chance that was considered to be slim by manager Shin Tae-yong himself.
On the German side, its performance was not perfect as expected. Germany opened up losing 0–1 to Mexico, later overcame Sweden thanks to a free-kick goal by Toni Kroos in injury time with a 2–1 win despite going down to ten men from 82'. However, as the tournament did not use head-to-head record, Germany was behind to Sweden by fair play point, thus had to encounter against South Korea in a must-win match in hope to qualify for the knockout stage. Germany also held a record until the match for not being eliminated from the group stage for 80 years, despite the ongoing FIFA World Cup champions' "curse" that has been casting on every European teams since 2002 that they would face early elimination.
Many fans, press and media believed that Germany would overwhelm the South Koreans, and Germany would qualify easily, and the curse would be broken. The two teams had faced each other three times, including two FIFA World Cup games, one at the 2002 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, which ended with a 1–0 victory for Germany, and one at the 1994 FIFA World Cup group stage, a Germany 3–2 victory.

## Match
### Summary

The Germans started strongly as usual and pressured South Korean defence at early stage of the match. Mesut Özil's creativity caused significant problem for the South Koreans. The Koreans then decided to play entirely defensive with a wall being built surrounding the net of goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo. The South Koreans have some chances to put pressure of Manuel Neuer, but it was futile. South Korean defenders had made several mistakes as well, but the Germans were unable to utilize this. Thus, despite rampant German pressure, South Korea withstood to take the first half into a goalless draw.
In the second half, just like the first half, Germany started strongly, but South Korea seemed to have been more confident to launch reprisals against the Germans. Son Heung-min shot wide from the edge of the penalty area before Marco Reus shot one towards goal at the other end only to see it blocked. Leon Goretzka drew a one-handed save from Jo Hyeon-woo with a header from the middle of the penalty area, the South Korean goalkeeper diving to his right and pushing the ball away at full stretch. Continuing South Korean defence was reinforced by the brave performance of Jo Hyeon-woo himself, as Jo had prevented many of best German names like Mesut Özil, Toni Kroos, Joshua Kimmich, Marco Reus and Timo Werner from ever scoring.
Thought it would end up goalless, two minutes into the second-half's stoppage time, Son's corner from the left reached Kim Young-gwon at the far post who scored into the right corner from six yards out with his left foot, the offside decision that followed was overruled by a VAR decision. Ju Se-jong won the ball off Manuel Neuer who had been at the other end of the pitch in order to join the German attack, thus leaving the goal undefended, and hit a long ball to Son, who ran onto the ball and tapped into an empty net from close range to score the second.

### Details

| South Korea | Germany |
| GK | 23 | Jo Hyeon-woo |
| RB | 2 | Lee Yong |
| CB | 5 | Yun Young-sun |
| CB | 19 | Kim Young-gwon |
| LB | 14 | Hong Chul |
| RM | 17 | Lee Jae-sung | 23' |
| CM | 15 | Jung Woo-young | 9' |
| CM | 20 | Jang Hyun-soo |
| LM | 18 | Moon Seon-min | 48' | 69' |
| CF | 13 | Koo Ja-cheol | | 56' |
| CF | 7 | Son Heung-min (c) | 65' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 11 | Hwang Hee-chan | | 56' | 79' |
| MF | 8 | Ju Se-jong | | 69' |
| DF | 22 | Go Yo-han | | 79' |
| Manager: ||
| Shin Tae-yong ||
| GK | 1 | Manuel Neuer (c) |
| RB | 18 | Joshua Kimmich |
| CB | 5 | Mats Hummels |
| CB | 15 | Niklas Süle |
| LB | 3 | Jonas Hector | 78' |
| CM | 6 | Sami Khedira | 58' |
| CM | 8 | Toni Kroos |
| RW | 14 | Leon Goretzka | 63' |
| AM | 10 | Mesut Özil |
| LW | 11 | Marco Reus |
| CF | 9 | Timo Werner |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 23 | Mario Gómez | 58' |
| FW | 13 | Thomas Müller | 63' |
| MF | 20 | Julian Brandt | 78' |
| Manager: ||
| Joachim Löw ||
* Man of the Match:
* Jo Hyeon-woo (South Korea)
* Assistant referees:
* Joe Fletcher (Canada)
* Frank Anderson (United States)
* Fourth official:
* Julio Bascuñán (Chile)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Christian Schiemann (Chile)
* Video assistant referee:
* Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Tiago Martins (Portugal)
* Corey Rockwell (United States)
* Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

## Aftermath

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mexico | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | |
The outcome of the match was the opposite as expected. The early German elimination was "greeted with shock in newspapers around the world". Germany are the fourth defending champions to be eliminated from the group stage at the World Cup in the last five tournaments, following France in 2002, Italy in 2010, and Spain in 2014; and since the new millennium, all champions eliminated in the group stage have been UEFA members. This is only the second time that Germany has been eliminated from the first round at the World Cup, having done so in 1938, while also being the first time since then that Germany failed to finish among the best eight teams of the tournament. However, this is the first time it happened after the first round was converted back to a group stage format in 1950. This was Germany's first-ever defeat against an Asian nation in a World Cup match in what was their sixth such match. This was also the first time Germany finished bottom in the World Cup's group stage, one of the worst performances in their history; having been eliminated from the group stage of UEFA Euro 2000 and 2004.
For the South Koreans, the win meant it was the first time ever South Korea beat Germany in a competitive match. This was also South Korea's first victory (and clean sheet) at the World Cup since their 2–0 win over Greece in 2010. South Korea's win also meant that Australia was the only team from the Asian Football Confederation that failed to win a game in their 2018 World Cup campaign. Had Mexico defeated Sweden in their final group stage match that same day, a South Korean victory over Germany by at least two goals would have advanced South Korea to the Round of 16 based on goal differential, at the expense of Sweden. However, since Sweden defeated Mexico 3–0, the South Koreans were eliminated despite their 2–0 victory over Germany. This marked the second time that South Korea failed to make the Round of 16 in two consecutive FIFA World Cups, having been eliminated in the group stage at the previous one and in four consecutive World Cups from 1986 to 1998. This victory, however, also helped the South Korean side to return home without being jeered by South Korean supporters as it was back in four years ago, with Korean fans hailed the victory "historic". South Korean media painted it "Miracle of Kazan", despite they failed to advance.
For the Mexicans, the match rescued the team from being eliminated and, instead, advanced to the round of 16. The South Korean win over Germany sent a group of Mexicans to celebrate in front of South Korean embassy in Mexico City as a gesture for South Korean help. However, as Mexico only finished second in their group, they had to face Brazil, and was eliminated in the round of sixteen with a 0–2 defeat.