Korea in Group H with Germany, Colombia and Morocco at Women's World Cup

Football

Published: 23 Oct. 2022, 14:29 Updated: 23 Oct. 2022, 15:02

Korea in Group H with Germany, Colombia and Morocco at Women's World Cup

Former Brazil player Gilberto Silva holds up a piece of paper with "Korea Republic" printed o it during the draw ceremony for the Australia and New Zealand 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korean women's football team was placed in Group H alongside world No. 3 Germany, No. 76 Morocco and No. 27 Colombia at the 2023 Women's World Cup draw on Saturday.

The draw for the 2023 Women's World Cup was held at the Aotea Center in Auckland on Saturday. The World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20 next year.

This year marks the ninth edition of the Women's World Cup finals with 32 countries competing, eight more than the 24 that competed in the last tournament, making this edition the biggest in the history of the World Cup.

The 32 countries are divided into eight groups of four and the first and second placed teams of each group will advance to the round of 16.

The draw on Saturday was based on the FIFA women's world rankings on Sept. 14.

The participating countries were divided into four pots of eight countries. Host countries Australia and New Zealand were assigned to pot No. 1 as the hosts and No. 17 Korea was placed in the second pot alongside Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Italy and China.

Countries from the same pot and from the same continent cannot be placed in the same group with the exception of European teams. As at least 11 European countries will be participating, one group will inevitably have two European countries.

A total of 29 countries including Korea have already secured their World Cup berth, with 10 countries still set to vie for the remaining three spots at the playoffs that will take place from Feb. 19 to Feb. 23 next year in New Zealand.

Korean women's national team coach Colin Bell arrives for the draw ceremony for the Australia and New Zealand 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea qualified for the 2023 World Cup after a 1-0 victory over Australia at the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup this January. Australia was the highest-ranked team in the tournament, standing at No. 11 at the time and seven spots above Korea.

At the top continental tournament, it was veteran midfielder Ji So-yun who scored the winner for Korea and earned their chance at making it into their third consecutive World Cup and fourth overall. After suffering a 3-2 defeat to China, Korea eventually finished runner-up at the Asian Cup, marking Korea’s best finish ever at the event.

Korea is the second-highest ranked country in Group H. While Colombia sits below Korea at No. 27, Germany is an opponent that will be difficult to match as the third-highest ranked country in the world.

No. 76 Morocco will make their first appearance at the Women's World Cup next year and is set to become the first Arab nation to compete at the tournament.

With Germany expected to advance and Morocco expected to struggle, Korea’s first group stage match against No. 27 Colombia on July 25 could essentially decide who will get to stay and who will be sent home.

Korea beat Colombia in the group stage at the Olympics in 2016.

Korea's best run at the World Cup came in 2015, when they reached the round of 16 at the Canadian World Cup. Colombia has seen similar success, having qualified for the knockout stage in 2015 but failed to make it out of the group stage in 2019.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]