The North Korea national football team (Munhwaeo ; North Korean romanisation: Josŏn minjujuŭi inmin konghwaguk kukka chonghap thim; recognized as Korea DPR by FIFA) represents North Korea in men's international football and it is controlled by the DPR Korea Football Association, the governing body for football in North Korea. It has been a member of FIFA since 1958 and a member of AFC since 1974.
North Korea’s national team made its FIFA World Cup debut in 1966, reaching the quarter-finals and defeating Italy in the group stage, becoming the first men's Asian team in history to advance beyond the group stage. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, controversy arose when the team's supporters rioted over the team's failure to qualify, interfering with the opposing team’s exit from the stadium. In 2009, the team secured qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, marking its second World Cup appearance in their history. North Korea has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup six times; finishing fourth in 1980, and appearing in 1992, 2011, in 2015, and in 2019. The current squad includes both native North Koreans and Japanese Zainichi Koreans.
History
North Korea's debut and the 1966 FIFA World Cup The North Korea Football Association was founded in 1945. It became a member of the AFC during the confederation's first year of existence in 1954, and has been affiliated with FIFA since 1958. The first official match of the North Korean national football team was played on 22 March 1964, in Rangoon, against Burma, as part of the 1964 Olympic qualifiers. This first match in the history of the North Korean selection ended in a goalless draw. Thanks to their victory over the Burmese in the second leg, the Chollimas reached the next round against Thailand, a two-legged affair also hosted in Rangoon. They won easily (7–0 over the two matches), but were forced to forfeit the final phase of the tournament because the IOC decided to ban any athlete who participated in the GANEFO—which several footballers from the national team did.
In 1965, the national team took part again in GANEFO, and in 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time. That year, FIFA decided to place all the selections entered from Africa, Asia and Oceania in a single qualifying group, with the aim of offering only one place. All registered African countries protested by withdrawing from the competition, leaving only North Korea and Australia. The Australians started as favourites, but the North Koreans won both matches (6–1 and 3–1) and qualified for the final phase. The qualification of North Korea posed a diplomatic problem for the organizing country, the United Kingdom; since the Korean War, they had not recognized the legitimacy of the Pyongyang government and would not fly its flag or play its national anthem. The problem was only partly solved before the start of the competition in July 1966; the North Korean flag was flown alongside those of the other participants, but the national anthem was not played before the team's matches.
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup, they were drawn into group 4, along with the USSR, Italy and Chile, the first time North Korea would face teams from another continent. The Chollimas lost their first game against the Soviets, then managed a 1–1 draw against Chile (Pak Seung-zin scoring North Korea's first goal at a World Cup). The last match, against the Italian double world champions, was crucial, as the winner would obtain their ticket to the quarter-finals. The discipline of Myung Rye-hyun's men managed to secure them a historic 1–0 upset victory with a goal from Pak Doo-ik. This was the first time an Asian team qualified for the quarter-finals of a World Cup. At the same time, the public began to take an interest in these disciplined players from a closed country. They were cheered on by locals in the town of Middlesbrough, where they were housed, including the team's star players, Pak Seung-zin and Pak Doo-ik. In the quarter-finals, North Korea faced Portugal, which had eliminated reigning world champions Brazil in the group stage. After 25 minutes of play, the Koreans led 3–0 (goals from Pak Seung-zin, Yang Seung-kook and Li Dong-woon) but began to lose their discipline. Portuguese star player Eusébio went on to score four goals, and José Augusto added another to defeat North Korea 5–3. When the North Korean players returned home, the crowd cheered them on as heroes. Pak Seung-zin remains North Korea's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup with two goals in four games.
Thirty-five years later, British director Dan Gordon and North Korea specialist Nicholas Bonner (Koryo Tours), made a film called The Game of Their Lives after finding the seven surviving players of the 1966 side, who had become favourites with the British public and were celebrated as heroes on their return to their country. The film screened in North Korea and South Korea and received the award for Best Sports Documentary from the Royal Television Society.. In 2002, Gordon and Bonner brought the team back to the site of their victory in Middlesbrough.
After the FIFA World Cup (1967–1980)
Following the FIFA World Cup, North Korea only rarely took part in the qualifying campaigns for the various continental and world tournaments. The Chollimas forfeited the 1968 Olympic qualifiers, and failed to enter the 1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification and 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers when they refused to face the Israeli team in the second round of the playoffs. Between their World Cup quarter-final and 1971, they played only one friendly against Algeria, losing 3–1 in Algiers. This meeting was the first in the history of the North Korean team against an African side.
The North Koreans played their first official game since 1966 in 1972, as part of the 1972 Olympic qualifiers. They defeated Syria and Iraq, but ended up losing against Iran 2–0 in a play-off match, following 0–0 draws in both of the first two legs. They decided again not to register for the 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. In May 1973, Pak Seung-zin's men were in Tehran to play the first phase of the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They were in Group 2, along with host nation Iran, Syria and Kuwait. The team finished third in the group, behind the Iranians, who qualified for the rest of the competition, and Syria.
North Korea took part in Asian Cup qualification for the first time in 1976. Placed in group 4-B, with Japan and Singapore, the Chollimas finished first, then beat Hong Kong in the semi-finals, ensuring their participation in the tournament proper, then beating China in the final match. But, like Saudi Arabia and Thailand, the North Koreans withdrew and missed the opportunity to take part in the continental tournament for the first time.
The following year, under the direction of former striker Pak Doo-ik, the team qualified for the Olympic football tournament for the second time. They finished first during qualification and advanced following a penalty shootout against Indonesia. In Montreal, they were placed in Group 3 with hosts Canada and the USSR. The North Koreans beat Canada 3–1, then lost to the Soviets 0–3, but still qualified for the quarter-finals in second. They failed again at this stage, suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat against future silver medalist team Poland. They played the last half hour with ten men against the Poles, led by Grzegorz Lato and Andrzej Szarmach, who each scored twice.
The following two qualifying campaigns, for the 1978 FIFA World Cup and for the 1980 Olympics, were failures. The former was cut short with a withdrawal for diplomatic reasons, the North Koreans finding themselves in the same qualifying group as their southern neighbors, and in 1980, the Chollimas finished in 4th place in Group 3 of the pre-tournament, overtaken by Iran, Singapore and China.
In 1980, this time with Yang Seung-kook on the bench, the North Koreans took part in 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification which saw successes against Thailand and Malaysia. They finished in second place in Group 1 of the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, behind defending champions Iran. In the semi-finals, they faced South Korea in an event of both sporting and political significance. After opening the scoring early, North Korea conceded two goals by Chung Hae-won in the last ten minutes and saw their journey come to an end in the semi-final, their best performance in the Asian Cup of Nations. The game for third place was a disaster, with a 3–0 defeat against Iran.
From one Asian Cup to another (1981–1992)
In 1980, with former international Han Bong-zin on the bench, the North Koreans moved on to 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification. After finishing top of their group (ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore), they eliminated Japan in the semi-finals but lost to China in the group final, ending any hopes of qualification. The following year, the selection participated in the 1982 Asian Games. North Korean progressed through the first round (drawing against Syria and Saudi Arabia and victory against Thailand), then beat Japan in the quarter-finals. They lost in extra time in the semi-finals, against Kuwait. The end of the match was extremely turbulent as the North Korean players attacked Thai referee Vijit Getkaew. The penalties from the AFC were heavy with a two-year suspension, which began as soon as the match ended, therefore they did not even play the match for the bronze medal, which automatically went to Saudi Arabia, the other unfortunate semi-finalists. The immediate consequence of this decision by the AFC, was the disqualification of North Korea from the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and from the 1984 Olympic qualifiers which were boycotted by North Korea.
The selection therefore spent almost four years without playing official matches. For the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they entered Group 4 alongside Japan and Singapore, two nations they had beaten four years previously. This time, it was the Japanese, led by Hiromi Hara, who finished top of the group and continued their qualifying campaign.
In 1988, North Korea did not participate in the 1988 Olympic tournament. North Korea had initially asked to be involved in the Games, a request refused by the International Olympic Committee, resulting in their boycott of the Games. As for the 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification, North Korea only placed third in their qualifying group, behind Syria and Iran, both of which qualified for the tournament.
In 1990, North Korea took part in the inaugural 1990 Dynasty Cup. North Korea finished in third place. The following year, in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, North Korea finished top of their first-round pool, winning all three of their home matches. In the final round, North Korea finished last, winning only one game, against Qatar.
Two years later, in 1991, the federation hired a foreign manager for the first time: Hungarian Pál Csernai, the former coach of Bayern Munich. North Korea finished the 1992 AFC Asian Cup qualification in first, ahead of Macao, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. It thus qualified for the Asian Cup for the second time, twelve years after its successful debut in Kuwait. Csernai's team were drawn into Group 1, along with hosts Japan, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. This time, their tournament ended in the first round, finishing without a win and with only two goals scored, both by Kim Kwang-min.
North Korea entered 1992 Olympic qualifiers after two consecutive withdrawals. Placed in Group E, Pyongyang was chosen, along with Beijing, to host the qualifying matches. Once again, the final tournament escaped them, finishing in second place behind China. Right after the Games, the team took part in the 1992 Dynasty Cup. Like two years before, the team finished on the third step of the podium, behind Japan and South Korea.
Withdrawal period (1993–2005)