As night fell on June 13, the Asian qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup were in full swing, with a do-or-die battle for promotion taking place at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province. The Group H match between South Korea and Lebanon was a thrilling drama. After losing the first goal, South Korea scored twice in the second half and beat their opponents with a stunning 2-1 comeback to seal the top spot in the group. Lebanon, on the other hand, finished second in the group with 10 points, having won three, drawn one and lost two.
In the battle for second place in the group, Lebanon has a clear goal difference despite being level on points with China, who have played a game less. South Korea, with five wins and a draw, scored 22 goals and conceded only one, boasting 16 points, while Lebanon scored 11 goals and conceded eight, with a goal difference of only three. Japan, Syria, Australia and South Korea have already advanced to the Round of 12.
Although South Korea has basically locked up the top spot in the group, the theoretical danger still exists. In the event of an unexpected defeat in the upcoming matches, South Korea's position at the top of the group will be challenged. According to the group ranking rules of the World Qualification Tournament, the goal difference and the number of goals scored in the group stage are the primary considerations, followed by the head-to-head results and goal difference between teams with the same points.
At the start of the match, Korea showed a strong desire to attack. In the 12th minute, Saad leaned on Kim Young-gwon in the box and quickly turned and swept a left-footed shot, which hit the bottom of the right post and bounced into the net, giving the Lebanese team a 1-0 lead. However, the South Koreans were not discouraged, and in the second half they went on the offensive end of the field, eventually equalizing in the 50th minute and reversing the lead on a penalty kick in the 65th minute.
South Korea's Son took the penalty kick in the 65th minute and scored with a low right-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the goal to make the score 2-1, followed by Son Jun-ho, who plays for Shandong Taishan, who came on as a substitute. In the end, South Korea took all three points with a 2-1 victory over Lebanon.
South Korea starting lineup: 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-Son, 22-Kwon Chang-hoon (82' 11-Hwang Hee-chan); 16-Hwang Yi-suk.
