North Korea qualified and participated in the 1966 and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In 1966, North Korea finished second in its group, after competing against the Soviet Union, Chile, and Italy. North Korea progressed to the second round, thus making them the first Asian country to have qualified past the first round. However, they lost to Portugal in the quarter-finals. Seven players were consistently fielded during these matches.
North Korea was the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and did not pass the group stage after losing in all three group matches.
North Korea had four top goalscorers in 1966, and only one goalscorer in the 2010 World Cup.
Prior to North Korea's debut in 1966, the Korean Empire had entered qualification for the FIFA World Cup in 1930, 1934, and 1938 as part of Japan because Korea was occupied by Japan at that time. In later years, North Korea either withdrew (1970 and 1978), or did not enter or qualify for the World Cup.
Summary
1966 in England After South Africa being disqualified and South Korea having withdrawn due to logistical reasons, North Korea had to compete in a play-off match against Australia in order to qualify, which they won 9–2 on aggregate.
In the third and decisive group match, North Korea beat title contenders Italy 1–0, eliminating them from the competition and advancing to the second stage. No team from Asia had ever progressed from the first round before, and the feat would not be repeated until 1994, when Saudi Arabia reached the Round of 16.
In the quarter-final against Portugal, North Korea managed to lead 3–0 after 25 minutes, but the game was turned around with a final score of 3–5, with Portuguese star player Eusébio scoring four goals.
2010 in South Africa With a final pre-tournament FIFA ranking of 105th in the world, North Korea was the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the World Cup since the rankings began in 1993.
2010 was North Korea's first appearance at the World Cup since 1966. The draw placed North Korea in Group G. They played their first match against five-time winners Brazil on 15 June. Despite their best efforts, they were outmatched and lost 1–2. In their next game against Portugal on 21 June, they were defeated 0–7. Despite starting well (as against Brazil), their defensive and well-organized approach unraveled after Portugal scored on them. The Koreans lost their final match against Ivory Coast 0–3 on 25 June. Having lost all three group matches, they were knocked out, finishing at the bottom of Group G. It was reported that the apparent North Korean football fans were actually Chinese people who bought tickets reserved for North Korean government officials. North Korea subsequently denied the report and claimed that the Chinese were small in number and that the government had permitted their travel.
Record at the FIFA World Cup Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1930 Occupied by 1934 1938 1950Did not enter 1954 1958 1962 1966 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 1 2 5 9 1970 Withdrew 1974 Did not qualify 1978 Withdrew 1982 Did not qualify 1986 1990 1994 1998 Did not enter 2002 2006 Did not qualify 2010 Group stage 32nd 3 0 0 3 1 12 2014 Did not qualify 2018 2022 Withdrew 2026 Did not qualify 2030 To be determined 2034Total Quarter-finals 2/25 7 1 1 5 6 21 *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out
By match World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueScorers1966Group 40–3LMiddlesbrough1–1DMiddlesbroughPak S.Z.1–0WMiddlesbroughPak D.I.Quarter-finals3–5LLiverpoolPak S.Z., Li D.W., Yang S.K.2010Group G1–2LJohannesburgJi Y.N.0–7LCape Town0–3LNelspruit
England 1966
Group 4
Team3300616.0063111240.5033102221.0023012250.401
Quarter-finals
South Africa 2010
Group G
Player records Most appearances Seven players were fielded in all four of North Korea's matches in 1966, making them record World Cup players for their country.
RankPlayerMatches1Han Bong-Zin4Im Seung-Hwi4Li Chan-myung4Lim Zoong-Sun4Pak Doo-Ik4Pak Seung-Zin4Shin Yung-Kyoo4
Goalscorers On 16 July 1966, Pak Seung-zin made history by scoring North Korea's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal, coming in the 88th minute of their second match against Chile in Middlesbrough.
RankPlayerGoalsWorld Cups1Pak Seung-Zin219662Pak Doo-Ik11966Lee Dong-Woon11966Yang Sung-Kook11966Ji Yun-Nam12010
See also Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup North Korea at the AFC Asian Cup
References
Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total