North Korea national football team

Korea DPR

Nickname(s)	Chollima (천리마)
Association	DPR Korea Football Association
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Head coach	Kim Chang-bok
Captain	Ri Myong-guk
Most caps	Ri Myong-guk (79)
Top scorer	Jong Tae-se (15)
Home stadium	Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang
FIFA code	PRK
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	112 (5 May 2016)
Highest	57 (November 1993)
Lowest	181 (November 1998)
Elo ranking
Current	87 (June 2015)
Highest	26 (July 1966)
Lowest	98 (31 March 2015)
First international
North Korea 1–0 China PR  (Beijing, China; October 7, 1956)[1]
Biggest win
North Korea 21–0 Guam  (Taipei, Taiwan; March 11, 2005)
Biggest defeat
Portugal 7–0 North Korea (Cape Town, South Africa; June 21, 2010)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 1966)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1966
Asian Cup
Appearances	4 (First in 1980)
Best result	Fourth place; 1980

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 has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup four times; in 1980, when they finished fourth, in 1992, 2011 and in 2015. The current team is composed of both native North Koreans and Chongryon-affiliated Koreans born in Japan.

History

1966 World Cup

In the 1966 World Cup, North Korea played their matches at Middlesbrough's home ground 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.^[3] In a 1999 documentary featuring interviews with surviving members of the team,^[4] 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, but lost 5–0 to Poland in the quarter-finals.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9][10] 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.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  South Korea 8 4 4 0 12 4 +8 16  North Korea 8 3 3 2 7 5 +2 12  Saudi Arabia 8 3 3 2 8 8 0 12  Iran 8 2 5 1 8 7 +1 11  United Arab Emirates 8 0 1 7 6 17 −11 1

Finals

The North Korean and Brazilian teams in 2010

North Korea playing against Brazil in the 2010 World Cup

2010 was North Korea's first appearance at the World Cup since 1966.^[11] The draw placed North Korea in Group G. They played their first match against five-time winners Brazil on 15 June, with Brazil winning 2–1 in a game where North Korea was well organized defensively and showed resilience, 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 ahead.

In their next game against Portugal on 21 June, they were defeated 0–7. Despite starting well (as against Brazil), with a defensive, well organised approach, once Portugal scored their first, the Koreans' defense unravelled and the rest followed with relative ease. They lost their final match against Côte d'Ivoire 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 small contingency of apparent North Korean football fans were actually Chinese, to whom North Korea administration sold their share of tickets.^[12] North Korea subsequently denied the report, claiming that a small number were permitted to travel to the World Cup. There were reports that the North Korean government punished the coach and players of the team by sending them on a hard labour in mines. However, FIFA's investigators could not confirm that.^[13]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Brazil 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7  Portugal 3 1 2 0 7 0 +7 5  Ivory Coast 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4  North Korea 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0

Brazil  v  North Korea

15 June 2010 20:30

Brazil	2–1	North Korea
Maicon  55' Elano  72'	Report	Ji Yun-Nam  89'

Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg Attendance: 54,331 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

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Portugal  v  North Korea

21 June 2010 13:30

Portugal	7–0	North Korea
Meireles  29' Simão  53' Almeida  56' Tiago  60', 89' Liédson  81' Ronaldo  87'	Report

Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Attendance: 63,644 Referee: Pablo Pozo (Chile)

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North Korea  v  Ivory Coast

25 June 2010 16:00

North Korea	0–3	Ivory Coast
	Report	Yaya Touré  14' Romaric  20' Kalou  82'

Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit Attendance: 34,763 Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

Recent and upcoming games

Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
21 February 2014	Zabeel Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Iraq	0–2	Friendly
31 October 2014	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Kuwait	0–1	Friendly
2 November 2014	Riffa, Bahrain	Bahrain	2–2	Friendly
6 November 2014	Doha, Qatar	Qatar	1–3	Friendly
13 November 2014	Taipei City, Taiwan	Hong Kong	2–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
16 November 2014	Taipei City, Taiwan	Guam	5–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
19 November 2014	Taipei City, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	0–0	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
10 January 2015	Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia	Uzbekistan	0–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup
14 January 2015	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Saudi Arabia	1–4	2015 AFC Asian Cup
18 January 2015	Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia	China PR	1–2	2015 AFC Asian Cup
17 May 2015	Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam	Vietnam	1–1	Friendly
20 May 2015	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	1–0	Friendly
11 June 2015	Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Yemen	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 June 2015	Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea	Uzbekistan	4–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 August 2015	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	Japan	2–1	2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
5 August 2015	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	China PR	0–2	2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
9 August 2015	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	South Korea	0–0	2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
3 September 2015	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	Bahrain	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 October 2015	Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea	Philippines	0–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
13 October 2015	Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea	Yemen	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
12 November 2015	Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	1–3	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
17 November 2015	Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea	Bahrain	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 March 2016	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines	Philippines	2–3	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
28 May 2016	Venezuela	Venezuela		Friendly

Competitive records

FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup record Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1930 Did Not Enter 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 Quarter-Finals 8th 4 1 1 2 5 9 1970 Did Not Qualify 1974 1978 1982 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 To be determined Total Quarter-Finals 2/20 7 1 1 5 6 21 List of FIFA World Cup matches Year Round Score Result 1966 Round 1  North Korea 0–3  Soviet Union Loss Round 1  North Korea 1–1  Chile Draw Round 1  North Korea 1–0  Italy Win Round 2  North Korea 3–5  Portugal Loss 2010 Round 1  North Korea 1–2  Brazil Loss Round 1  North Korea 0–7  Portugal Loss Round 1  North Korea 0–3  Ivory Coast Loss

AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian Cup Record Year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA 1956 Did Not Enter 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 Withdrew after qualified 1980 Fourth Place 4th 6 3 0 3 10 12 1984 Did Not Enter 1988 Did Not Qualify 1992 Group Stage 8th 3 0 1 2 2 5 1996 Did Not Enter 2000 Did Not Qualify 2004 2007 Banned 2011 Group Stage 12th 3 0 1 2 0 2 2015 Group Stage 13th 3 0 0 3 2 7 2019 To be determined Total 4/16 4th 15 3 2 10 14 26

AFC Challenge Cup record

AFC Challenge Cup Finals
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
2006	Did not enter
2008	Third Place	3	1	1	1	6	2
2010	Champions	5	3	2	0	14	2
2012	Champions	5	5	0	0	12	1
2014	Did not enter
Total	Best: Champions	11	7	4	2	19	7

East Asian Cup

• 2003 – Withdrew
• 2005 – Third place in Final Tournament
• 2008 – Fourth Place in Final Tournament
• 2010 – Did not qualify
• 2013 – Did not qualify
• 2015 – Third place in Final Tournament

Nehru Cup

• 1993 – Winners

Coaching staff

Position	Name	Nationality
Head coach	Kim Chang-bok	North Korean
Assistant coach	Kwon Ryong-jun	North Korean
Goalkeeper coach	Kim Myong-chol	North Korean

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup. Caps and goals updated as of 13 October 2015, after the game against  Yemen.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Ri Myong-guk	9 September 1986 (aged 28)	76	0	Pyongyang City
18	GK	Ri Kwang-il	13 April 1988 (aged 27)	3	0	April 25
21	GK	Kim Il-kwang	27 February 1992 (aged 23)	0	0	Kigwancha
2	DF	Jang Song-hyok	18 January 1991 (aged 24)	20	4	Rimyongsu
3	DF	Jang Kuk-chol	16 February 1994 (aged 21)	19	3	Hwaebul
5	DF	Han Song-hyok	11 December 1987 (aged 27)	2	0	Hwaebul
6	DF	Kang Kuk-chol	1 July 1990 (aged 25)	17	0	Pyongyang City
12	DF	Jon Kwang-ik	5 April 1988 (aged 27)	46	2	Amrokgang
13	DF	Sim Hyon-jin	1 January 1991 (aged 24)	14	0	Sobaeksu
15	DF	Ri Yong-chol	18 January 1991 (aged 24)	11	0	Kyonggongop
4	MF	Ri Kum-chol	26 December 1990 (aged 24)	5	2	Amrokgang
8	MF	Kim Yong-gwang	18 September 1992 (aged 22)	1	0	Hwaebul
14	MF	So Kyong-jin	8 January 1994 (aged 21)	9	0	Sobaeksu
22	MF	Ri Yong-jik	8 February 1991 (aged 24)	5	0	V-Varen Nagasaki
23	MF	Ri Chol-myong	18 February 1988 (aged 27)	45	7	Pyongyang City
7	FW	Ri Hyok-chol	14 October 1985 (aged 29)	14	5	Rimyongsu
9	FW	Pak Kwang-ryong	27 September 1992 (aged 22)	19	4	Lausanne
10	FW	An Byong-jun	22 May 1990 (aged 25)	5	0	Kawasaki Frontale
11	FW	Jong Il-gwan	30 October 1992 (aged 22)	37	8	Rimyongsu
19	FW	Hong Kum-song	3 June 1990 (aged 25)	11	1	April 25
20	FW	Pak Hyon-il	21 September 1993 (aged 21)	5	1	Amrokgang

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the North Korea squad within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Ju Kwang-min	20 May 1990	14	0	Rimyongsu	2015 AFC Asian Cup
DF	Ri Chang-ho	4 January 1990	1	0	Rimyongsu	2015 AFC Asian Cup
DF	Cha Jong-hyok	25 September 1985	47	0	Wil 1900	2015 AFC Asian Cup
MF	Ryang Yong-gi	1 July 1982	24	6	Vegalta Sendai	2015 AFC Asian Cup
MF	Pak Song-chol	24 September 1987	39	11	Rimyongsu	2015 AFC Asian Cup
MF	O Hyok-chol	2 August 1991	6	1	April 25	2015 AFC Asian Cup
FW	Om Chol-song	12 November 1992	2	0	April 25	2015 AFC Asian Cup
FW	Kye Song-hyok	12 November 1992	3	1	April 25	2015 AFC Asian Cup
FW	Choe Won	25 November 1992	5	0	Hwaebul	2015 AFC Asian Cup

Records

As of March 29, 2016. Players in bold are still active at international level.

Most caps # Name Career Caps Goals 1 Ri Myong-Guk 2007– 79 0 2 Pak Nam-Chol 2004–2012 74 14 3 Ri Kwang-Chon 2001–2012 69 1 4 Kim Yong-Jun 2001–2011 60 7 5 Mun In-Guk 2004–2011 54 6 6 Nam Song-Chol 2003–2010 49 1 = Jon Kwang-Ik 2007– 49 2 = Ri Chol-Myong 2007– 49 7 9 Hong Yong-Jo 2002–2011 48 11 10 Pak Chol-Jin 2003–2010 47 0 = Cha Jong-Hyok 2005– 47 0 Kit providers North Korea's official kit provider is currently produced by Italian company Legea. Also sponsoring the team are Koryolink, a telecommunication company from Pyongyang. Period Kit Provider 1948–1992 Admiral 1992–2002 Fila 2002–2003 Lotto 2003–2006 Adidas 2006–2007 Umbro 2007–2008 Hummel 2008–2010 ERKE 2010–present Legea See also List of Korea-related topics North Korea–South Korea football rivalry References North Korea matches, ratings and points exchanged "World Cup 2010 team guide: North Korea". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "When Middlesbrough hosted the 1966 World Cup Koreans". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010. "The Game of their Lives". BBC News. "XXI. Olympiad Montreal 1976 Football Tournament". rsssf.com. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "N Korea football violence erupts". BBC News. March 30, 2005. Retrieved May 7, 2010. Peck, Grant (15 June 2010). "No fans allowed at Japan, North Korea qualifying match". USA Today. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "North Korea qualify for World Cup". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "World Cup guide – North Korea". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "Groups and Standings". FIFA. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. "North Korea revive World Cup memories". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010. Holton, Kate (15 June 2010). "Chinese 'volunteer army' arrive to back North Korea". Reuters (Pretoria, South Africa). Retrieved 13 July 2010. Indicating only that Chinese supporters of North Korea were present, but not necessarily excluding North Korean fans. Frayer, Lauren (16 June 2010). "Diplomats: North Korean Soccer Fans Are Genuine". Aol News (Cape Town, South Africa). Retrieved 12 July 2010. External links 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