North Korea’s one World Cup experience still memorable

A new North Korea World Cup Blog is now published, and occasionally it’ll overlap with South Korea since the two teams are closely linked. Thanks for reading!

While South Korea’s World Cup record isn’t spattered with championships or even many second-round appearances, it’s still miles ahead of its neighbor to the north in terms of time played in the World Cup.

North Korea will play in its first World Cup since 1966. It’s also only the second time it will compete in the World Cup (most of the years, the team didn’t even enter). However, the North’s 1966 appearance surprising accomplishment remains prominent in World Cup history.

Let’s put it in perspective.

The last time North Korea qualified for the World Cup, the big media news was that the games would actually be televised in color for the first time. It was just 13 years after the end of the Korean War, and North Korea were the underdog darlings in 1966. The team qualified after beating Australia in a playoff.

This time around, the North’s unexpected qualification last month after it played a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia in Ridyah, hit the Internet within seconds, with its World Cup spot surprising much of the soccer world. Still, “North Korea in the News” rightly focuses on the short-range missiles the North recently fired.

It’s easy to forget how, nearly 44 years ago, North Korea shocked powerhouse Italy 1-0 on July 19, 1966, at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough in England, ending the Azzurri chances of making the quarterfinals. North Korea made it to the quarterfinals, the furthest they’ve ever gotten in the tourney.

Pak Doo Ik made a name for himself by scoring the lone goal. According to FIFA.com, “It was no doubt the most famous goal ever scored in the history of Asian football: the goal by which North Korea dumped Italy out of the 1966 World Cup.”

The team then lost to Portugal 5-3, despite being up 3-0 at one point in the game. Despite the loss, it’s hard to not recognize its accomplishment: Being the first Asian team in the World Cup to make it to the quarterfinals.

It was Asia’s only team in the World Cup that year after several Asian and African countries — including South Korea — withdrew, angry because it was decided only one team from those two continents would be given a spot in the final.