Fact file on South Korea, who are in World Cup Group H
Best World Cup performance: Fourth place in 2002
Other honours: Asian champions in 1956, 1960
Fifa ranking: 28
Main clubs: Jeonbuk Motors, Ulsan, FC Seoul, Pohang Steelers
How they qualified: South Korea finished second behind Iran in Asian qualifying Group A
Coach: Paulo Bento, 53, was appointed in 2018. The former international midfielder started his managerial career with Sporting Lisbon in his native Portugal.
Coached Portugal from 2010 to 2014 and had spells in Brazil, Greece and China, before South Korea came calling. Bento was in charge of a Portugal team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil that boasted Cristiano Ronaldo, but they failed to get out of the group stage, having been thumped 4-0 by eventual champions Germany and held 2-2 by the United States.
He lasted just one more game, a 1-0 home defeat to Albania in a European Championship qualifier, before he was sacked. Will be eager for revenge when South Korea face Portugal in Group H.
Key player: Son Heung-min is the undoubted star man but his World Cup is in doubt after suffering a serious facial injury for Tottenham Hotspur against Marseille in the Champions League.
He had surgery last Friday to fractures around his left eye socket but Spurs and South Korea are keeping tight-lipped about his Qatar hopes. He will be a huge miss if he is ruled out.
The Spurs forward is captain of his country and their talisman.
Son has scored 35 times in 104 appearances for South Korea. He shared the Premier League golden boot with Liverpool's Mo Salah last season as joint top-scorer with 23 goals.
Group fixtures:
November 24: Uruguay v South Korea
November 28: South Korea v Ghana
December 2: South Korea v Portugal
Squad (possible)
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al-Shabab/KSA), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk Motors), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan)
Defenders: Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka/JPN), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Motors), Kim Min-jae (Napoli/ITA) Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan), Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk Motors), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan), Yoon Jong-gyu (FC Seoul), Cho Yu-min (Daejeon Hana Citizen), Hong Chul (Daegu FC)
Midfielders: Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon Sangmu), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Motors), Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan/CHN), Yang Hyun-jun (Gangwon FC), Lee Kang-in (Real Mallorca/ESP), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz/GER), Jung Woo-young (Al Sadd/QAT), Jeong Woo-yeong (Freiburg/GER), Hwang In-beom (Olympiakos/GRE), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers/ENG)
Forwards: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Cho Gue-sung (Jeonbuk Motors), Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiakos/GRE)