page_title: Sport in South Korea
section_title: Association football
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in South Korea / Popular sports / Association football
caption_attribution_description: English: The Champion of K-League 2008, Suwon Samsung Bluewings! 한국어: K-리그 2008 우승팀, 수원 삼성 블루윙즈!
context_page_description: South Korea has traditional sports of its own, as well as sports from different cultures and countries.
context_section_description: The national football team became the first team in the Asian Football Confederation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan. The Korea Republic national team (as it is known) has qualified for every World Cup since Mexico 1986, and has broken out of the group stage twice: first in 2002, and again in 2010, when it was defeated by eventual semi-finalist Uruguay in the Round of 16. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, South Korea won the Bronze Medal for football.
  South Korea, which competes internationally under the name of "Korea Republic", has qualified for ten FIFA World Cups including the most recent 2018 tournament (Asian record), and co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, finishing in 4th place. Also in 2010, the country's under-17 women's team won the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago, claiming South Korea's first-ever title in worldwide FIFA competition. The K-League is the oldest domestic professional football league in Asia. A huge number of tiny amateur football gatherings are active and immensely popular.
caption: 2008 K-League Winner, Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
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