South Korea will look to upset Sweden

South Korea will try to create an upset when they face higherranked Sweden in their 2018 Fifa World Cup Group F opening match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium here today.

South Korea, in their 10th World Cup, are certain underdogs in their group, where they are also paired with defending champions Germany and Latin American powerhouses Mexico.

Neither history nor statistics are in South Korea’s favour when it comes to their meeting with Sweden.

South Korea, coached by Shin Tae-yong, are ranked No. 57 in the latest Fifa rankings while Sweden sit at No. 24. South Korea have two draws and two losses from their four previous encounters with Sweden, although their last meeting was in 2005. Probably the only statistic that South Korea can rely on is their opening match results in recent World Cups. Beginning in 2002, South Korea have not lost any of their first World Cup matches, collecting three wins and one draw.

Neither team had an impressive World Cup tuneup before landing in Russia. South Korea played to a scoreless draw with Bolivia and fell 0-2 to Senegal in their friendly matches in Austria. Sweden had 0-0 draws with Denmark and Peru in their World Cup warm-ups at home.

There has been an offpitch battle between the two sides ahead of their Group F clash. Sweden claimed they’ve analysed all of South Korea’s closed door training in Austria while South Korea accused Sweden of playing the press to distract them.