North Korea national football team

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea national football team (recognized as Korea DPR by FIFA and known colloquially and in the media as North Korea^[2]) represents the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in international association football and is controlled by the DPR Korea Football Association, the governing body for football in North Korea.

North Korea surprised with a good showing at their World Cup debut, reaching the quarter-finals in 1966, beating Italy in the group stage. Controversy arose during the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers, when the team's supporters caused problems because of the team's failure to qualify. In 2009, the team qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the second World Cup appearance in their history. North Korea have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup three times; in 1980, when they finished fourth, in 1992 and in 2011. The current team is composed of both native North Koreans and Chongryon-affiliated Koreans born in Japan.

North Korea are the reigning Unofficial Football World Champions after defeating previous title-holders Japan 1–0 at the Kim Il-Sung Stadium on November 15, 2011.

Competitive history

1964 Olympic football tournament

North Korea qualified for the 1964 Summer Olympics, although voluntarily withdrew when several of their athletes were found to be disqualified for also competing in the GANEFO a year before.^[3]

1966 World Cup

North Korea's most notable result in international play came in the 1966 World Cup at Middlesbrough F.C. home Ayresome Park, when the team caused an upset, beating Italy 1–0 to gain a spot in the quarter-finals. There, they lost 5–3 to Portugal despite taking a 3–0 lead after thirty minutes. The North Korea team was the first Asian team to progress beyond the first round of the World Cup finals.^[4] In a 1999 documentary featuring interviews with surviving members of the team,^[5] they describe themselves as having been welcomed home as national heroes.

1976 Olympic football tournament

The North Korea football team finished second in their group in the 1976 Summer Olympics, although lost 5–0 to Poland in the quarter-finals.^[6]

2006 World Cup qualifying stage controversy

In March 2005, the North Korean team entered a match with Iran with limited chances of qualifying for the World Cup finals due to poor performance in early fixtures. During the match hosted in Pyongyang, North Korean fans became enraged when the referee failed to award North Korea a penalty kick after a controversial play near the end of the match. Demanding a penalty, they rushed Syrian referee Mohamed Kousa, who instead gave a North Korean player a red card. Bottles, stones and chairs were thrown onto the field following the play. After the match was over, North Korean fans refused to let the Iranian team leave the stadium on their team bus. The violence was so severe that riot police forced back the crowd.^[7] Following this incident, North Korea lost its right to host the subsequent home match with Japan and the game was instead played behind closed doors to an empty stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.^[8]

2010 World Cup

Qualification

The North Korea football team qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup after finishing 2nd place in Group B of Asian qualifying.^[9] Their finishing place was not decided until the day of the last fixture of the group, in which they needed not only to avoid defeat in a match against Saudi Arabia, but also rely on Iran not winning in a match against South Korea. In the end, after possessing the same number of points as Saudi Arabia, North Korea qualified through goal difference.^[10][11]

Finals

2010 was North Korea's first appearance at the World Cup since 1966.^[12] The draw placed North Korea in Group G. They played their first match against five-time winners Brazil on 15 June, with Brazil winning 2 goals to 1 in a game where North Korea were well organised defensively and showed resiliance frustrating the Brazilians. Despite their best efforts, they were nevertheless outmatched and eventually broken down. Maicon's relief was visible after his goal to finally put Brazil.

Their next game was against Portugal on 21 June, with a defeat of 0–7. Despite starting well (much like against the Brazilians), with a defensive, well organised approach, once Portugal scored the first, the Koreans' defense unfolded and the rest followed with relative ease. Finally Côte d'Ivoire on 25 June, which Côte d'Ivoire won 3–0. After losing all three matches in the group stages, they were knocked out, finishing at the bottom of Group G. It was reported that the small contingency of apparent North Korean football fans were actually Chinese, to whom North Korea administration sold their share of tickets.^[13][14] North Korea subsequently denied the report, claiming that a small number were permitted to travel to the World Cup.^[15] North Korea's coach, Kim Jong-Hun, informed the media that he received "regular tactical advice during matches" from Kim Jong-il "using mobile phones that are not visible to the naked eye" and purportedly developed by the Supreme Leader himself.^[13]

Competitive records

AFC Challenge Cup

• 2006 – Ineligible
• 2008 – 3rd place
• 2010 – Winners
• 2012 – Qualified

East Asian Cup

• 2003 – Withdrew
• 2005 – Third place in Final Tournament
• 2008 – Fourth Place in Final Tournament
• 2010 – Did not qualify

Nehru Cup

• 1993 – Winners

Players

Current squad

The following 23-man squad was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Uzbekistan and Japan on 11 and 15 November 2011.

Caps and goals as of 15 November 2011.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the North Korea squad in the past 12 months.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• North Korea-South Korea football encounters

Kit providers

• ERKE (2008–2010)
• Legea (until FIFA World Cup 2010 & Asian Cup 2011)
• Adidas (Since 2012)

References

External links

• Official website of the North Korean Football Association (Korean) (English)
• The blog about football Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Italian)
• Korea DPR by FIFA, June 15, 2010
• North Korea – The World Cup's Mystery Men by BBC News, June 9, 2010
• The story of North Korea at the 1966 World Cup, BBC News, June 15, 2010
• Video of Italy's shock loss to North Korea in the World Cup 1966 by Youtube.com, June 15, 2010
• Northern Exposure: The People's Team Abroad by Soccerlens, July 25, 2010