With June 13th in Beijing, the 2022 Qatar
World Cup
The second phase of the Asian qualifiers and the 40-team tournament saw a fierce battle. In the Group H matchup, South Korea scored two goals in the second half to beat Lebanon 2-1 after conceding a goal in the first half. In the end, South Korea locked up the first place in Group H with a high score of 16 points after five wins and one draw, scoring 22 goals and conceding only one, while Lebanon ranked second in the group with 10 points after three wins, one draw and two losses, scoring 11 goals and conceding eight. In the eight second team in the group, Lebanon and one less game of the Chinese team with the same points, but the goal difference is obvious, China's goal difference is as high as 11, while the Lebanese team has only three. Currently, Japan, Syria, Australia and South Korea are the first to advance to the Round of 12.
South Korea seems to have secured the top spot in the group, but there is still a theoretical risk of being overtaken if Lebanon unexpectedly wins big. According to the group ranking rules of the World Qualification Tournament, the total goal difference and the number of goals scored in the group stage are the primary considerations, followed by the record, goal difference and the number of goals scored by the teams with the same points. Prior to this clash, South Korea was not only three points ahead of Lebanon, but also 16 goals ahead in terms of total goal difference. The Lebanese, however, are expected to take a favorable position among the second-place teams in the group if they can steal points from the Koreans.
The match culminated in the 12th minute when Saad cleverly leaned on Kim Young-Gwon in the box, turned and swept a left-footed shot that hit the base of the right post and bounced into the net to give Lebanon a 1-0 lead. Despite controlling the field and posing several threats, South Korea failed to convert their advantage into a goal. At the end of the first half, Korea went into the halftime break trailing Lebanon 0-1. In those 45 minutes, Korea had 86% possession, a 10-1 shot to goal ratio, and 7-0 in corner kicks.
In the 50th minute, Song Min Kyu scored a header in front of the penalty area from a corner kick on the right side to level the score at 1-1. In the 65th minute, South Korea broke through in the penalty area, and Lebanon's Omari intentionally handballed the ball when blocking the ball, and was awarded a penalty kick. Son took the penalty and scored with a low right-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the goal to put South Korea back in front 2-1. Sun Junho, who plays for Shandong Taishan, then came on as a substitute. In the end, South Korea won all three points with a 2-1 victory over Lebanon. (Source: JOOYO)
South Korea line-up: 1-Kim Seung-kyu; 14-Hong Che, 19-Kim Young-kwon, 15-Park Ji-soo (66'20-Won Doo-jae), 12-Kim Min-hwan (62'2-Lee Rong); 10-Lee Jae-sung (46'8-Nam Tae-hee), 5-Jeong Woo-young; 17-Song Min-kyu (83'6-Son Jun-ho); 7-Sun Heung-hoon, 22-Kwon Chang-hoon (82'11-Hwang Hee-chan); 16-Hwang Yi-suk '6-Son Jun Ho); 7-Son, 22-Kwon Chang-Hoon (82' 11-Hwang Hee-Chan); 16-Hwang Yi-Suk
