Anchor: With less than a month to go until the FIFA World Cup, anticipation is building for the tournament in Russia. However, a new projection from Yahoo Sports predicts that South Korea has only around a 30 percent chance of advancing to the last 16 of the competition.  
Our Park Jong-hong has the details.

Report: South Korea is among the 32 teams dreaming of glory at next month’s FIFA World Cup in Russia but new figures have predicted that the Korean side is unlikely to progress past the group stage of the tournament. 

Team Korea is in Group F along with soccer powerhouse Germany as well as Mexico and Sweden. 

Yahoo Sports projected Tuesday that Korea’s odds to advance to the round of 16 stand at just 29-point-4 percent, while the team’s likelihood of winning the World Cup was only point-two percent. The projections are based on data by online sports oddsmakers. 

Yahoo Sports noted that Korea is participating in its ninth consecutive World Cup finals, which is an impressive streak ranked fifth in the world only behind Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain. 

It added that Team Korea’s biggest strength is its offense, with the likes of Premier League star Son Heung-min among the attacking options. 

However, it said that the team has a weak defense, pointing out that it conceded five goals against Qatar in two matches and conceded two goals against China in a home game during the final qualifying group stage. 

Meanwhile, injuries are also causing concerns for Team Korea. Gangwon FC forward Lee Keun-ho, who was in the preliminary squad for the World Cup, has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a torn ligament in his right knee.

Three other players who were expected to play at the World Cup are also unavailable through injury.  

Team Korea will play four friendly matches before their opening World Cup match against Sweden on June 18th.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.