South Korea vs Mexico Preview

16 years ago South Korea co-hosted the World and shockingly reached the semifinals, with some help along the way.

However, since that time they have struggled at major tournaments and come into this game without a win in seven World Cup games, five of which have been losses.

They lost their first game to Sweden and it wasn’t just an unfortunate loss as the 1-0 score line may suggest.

They had just two shots on target, and Son Heung-Min who has been starring for Spurs in the Premier League was largely anonymous throughout that match.

They now face an early exit and it will be interesting to see how they fair here.

Mexico were the direct opposite of Korea in their last game.

The North Americans faced World champions Germany in their opening game, yet they were fearless and took the game to the Germans from the opening whistle.

They were so dangerous when they broke and made the Germans surprisingly vulnerable.

With ten minutes to go before half time, Hirving Lozano as he has done throughout the Mexican’s qualifying campaign scored a fine goal thanks to a great assist from Javier Hernandez.

South Korea failed to get a single shot on target against Sweden while Mexico have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight games and it is hard to see the Asians getting a goal here.

Bookmakers make Mexico odds-on favourites to win this game and progress to the knockout stages.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

South Korea

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Sweden		1-0		South Korea	18 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
L	Senegal		2-0		South Korea	11 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
D	South Korea		0-0		Bolivia	7 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
L	South Korea		1-3		Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
W	South Korea		2-0		Honduras	28 May, 2018	International Friendly

Mexico

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Germany		0-1		Mexico	17 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
L	Denmark		2-0		Mexico	9 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
W	Mexico		1-0		Scotland	3 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
D	Mexico		0-0		Wales	29 May, 2018	International Friendly
L	Mexico		0-1		Croatia	28 Mar, 2018	International Friendly