UruguayUruguay - National football team
The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international football competition and is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.
Uruguay have won two FIFA World Cups, including the first ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4-2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the final match. They also won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions Uruguay hosted in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup.
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Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won 18 official titles: 2 FIFA World Cup, 2 Olympic Games and 14 Copa América.
Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population. Uruguay is the only country in the world to win a World Cup with a general population of under 4 million inhabitants and is by far the smallest nation to do so. The second smallest country to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals. In fact, only six nations with populations smaller than Uruguay's have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (3 times), Wales, Kuwait, Jamaica, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay is also the smallest nation to win Olympic gold medals in any team sport.
Uruguay is also the smallest member nation of CONMEBOL, South American Football Association. Nevertheless, Uruguayan national team also have won the Copa América 14 different times, a record it shares with Argentina.
However, the level of the Uruguay national team has decreased lately as Uruguay has only qualified on two occasions in the last five World Cups, although it remains a strong team in South America, having reached third place and fourth place in the last two Copa América tournaments, respectively..
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Korea RepublicKorea Republic - National football team
The Korea Republic national football team represents the Republic of Korea in international football competitions. The team, also known as South Korea, is recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA.
South Korea has participated in seven World Cup final tournaments and became the first and only Asian team to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan. South Korea is considered as one of the most successful international football teams in Asia. It has qualified for its eighth World Cup final tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, having been the only unbeaten team during the AFC qualification tournament.
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[1] It won the first two editions of the AFC Asian Cup.
Since the 2000s, South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia, winning several prestigious Asian football championships, including the first two Asian Cup tournaments. The South Korean national team has also played in six consecutive World Cup finals from 1986, making a total of seven World Cup finals in all. It recently qualified for its eighth World Cup finals by qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In their first World Cup finals tournament, the 1954 World Cup, South Korea played games against Hungary and Turkey losing 0-9 and 0-7, respectively. The South Korean team was inexperienced and had a long and complicated flight schedule prior to arriving at the tournament which helped contribute to their big losses.
It took 32 years before South Korea was again able to participate in the World Cup finals when they qualified for the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico City. They lost 3-1 to Argentina, held Bulgaria 1-1, and narrowly lost to Italy 3-2.
Until the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which it co-hosted with Japan, the South Korean team was unable to garner a single win at any of the tournaments. Despite spirited play and good effort, South Korea has lost or drawn all of its matches except for in the last two tournaments which were held in 2002 and 2006..
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