Anchor: Everything is on the line as South Korea take on Portugal in their last group match of the 2022 World Cup. Staring down improbable odds as third in Group H, Team Korea will be looking to their star players while hoping the other group match plays out in their favor to advance to the Round of 16.
Tom McCarthy has more. 

Report: South Korea will face Portugal in their last group match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar at 12 a.m. Saturday, Korea time.

Team Korea, placed 28th in the FIFA rankings, has a chance of advancing into the Round of 16 only if they beat Portugal, who currently sit atop Group H and are ninth in the FIFA rankings, and the score of the other group match goes their way.

Portugal has already secured a berth into the Round of 16, having defeated Ghana 3-2 and Uruguay 2-0 to come into Saturday’s match with six points.

South Korea held Uruguay to a scoreless draw in the first group match but lost 2-3 to Ghana in the second match to earn one point with a goal difference of minus one, putting them third behind Ghana in the group.

Team Korea’s head coach, Paulo Bento said in a news conference that the team will do their best in the face of a strong team.

South Korea’s key defender, Kim Min-jae, is still struggling with a calf injury but did make it for the last day of training before the match, while Portugal boss Fernando Santos said the same day that there is a 50-50 chance that superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will play.

If the Taegeuk Warriors are to advance to the knockout stage for the first time in 12 years, they must not only beat Portugal but also rely on a complicated array of possible results of the Ghana-Uruguay match unfolding concurrently to break their way, the easiest of which for Team Korea is a one-goal victory for Uruguay.
Tom McCarthy, KBS WORLD Radio News