A point for each side was probably the fair outcome after some good defensive work from both teams. Uruguay will face Portugal in their next group game while South Korea play Ghana, both games on the 28th of November.
The first half was evenly contested with both sides having good spells throughout. South Korea started and ended the half well with their best chance coming in the 34th minute when Ui-Jo fired over the bar despite being uncontested inside the box. Godin almost scored against the run of play just before the break as his header from a corner crashed against the woodwork, Uruguay's best chance of the half. The second half was quiet for the most part, but it burst into life toward the end. Valverde hit the post with a long-range effort in the 90th minute before Son shot wide at the other end after a mistake from Rochet. Neither side could find a goal as the game finished 0-0.
90' + 8' FULL TIME: URUGUAY 0-0 SOUTH KOREA
90' + 6' De la Cruz takes an in-swinging corner but Seung-Gyu catches the cross and takes all the pressure off his goal.
90' + 4' In-Beom shoots from a long way out and fails to hit the target as he snatches at the effort.
90' + 2' Valverde celebrates a tackle on Kang-In as he tries to inspire his Uruguay team-mates to victory in added time.
90' There will be a minimum of seven additional minutes.
90' CHANCE! Son tries his luck from distance after a poor pass from Rochet, but his effort goes wide of the right post!
90' POST! Valverde smashes the left post with a powerful effort from long range!
Cho Gue-Sung
Yellow Card
88' Gue-Sung receives a yellow card for a clumsy challenge near the halfway line.
G. Varela
F. Pellistri
88' Varela replaces Pellistri in attack for the final few minutes.
87' South Korea are slowly retreating back toward their own goal as they look to secure a draw.
85' Uruguay are starting to progress further forward but are still too sloppy with their passing to trouble the South Korea goal.
83' The referee resumes play as Woo-Young is able to continue.
82' Woo-Young is down and receiving treatment.
81' Cavani holds the ball up well and passes to Nunez on the left side of the box. He cuts inside and tries to curl his shot into the far corner but the forward misses the target.
M. Viña
M. Olivera
79' Vina replaces Olivera at left-back for Uruguay.
N. de la Cruz
M. Vecino
78' De la Cruz comes on for Vecino to add more of an attacking threat to the Uruguay midfield.
77' Gue-Sung takes the ball down and shoots from 25 yards out, but drags his shot wide of the right post.
Lee Kang-In
Na Sang-Ho
75' Kang-In comes on for Sang-Ho on the right side of the attacking midfield trio.
Son Jun-Ho
Lee Jae-Sung
74' Jun-Ho replaces Jae-Sung in South Korea's midfield.
Cho Gue-Sung
Hwang Ui-Jo
74' Gue-Sung comes on for Ui-Jo in the striker role for South Korea.
72' With the introduction of Cavani, Uruguay are sending in more crosses to use the striker's aerial abilities to try and find a goal.
70' Uruguay are beginning to control possession and dictate the pace of the game, but South Korea remain disciplined in their defending.
68' The tempo of the match is slowing down as both sides struggle to get into the opposition box.
66' Play resumes as Min-Jae is able to continue following attention from the physios.
65' Min-Jae is down and receiving treatment on the pitch.
E. Cavani
L. Suárez
64' Cavani replaces Suarez to lead the Uruguay frontline.
64' Nunez drives into the box and tries to find Suarez but Seung-Gyu gets a hand to the ball before smothering it on the second attempt.
62' Uruguay are struggling to play out from the back as South Korea press high before dropping back into their defensive shape.
60' Son, South Korea's joint-top World Cup goalscorer of all time (three goals), scored twice at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and once in 2014; he could become only the second player to score in three separate editions of the tournament for the nation, after Park Ji-Sung, who netted once in each of 2002, 2006 and 2010.
58' Uruguay are trying to press slightly higher than they were in the first half to reduce the time on the ball for the South Korea defenders.
M. Cáceres
Yellow Card
56' Caceres receives the first yellow card of the game after a late challenge on Son.
54' Woo-Young makes a late sliding challenge on Nunez but the referee is reluctant to show him a yellow card.
52' Son takes an out-swinging corner for South Korea and Min-Jae wins the flick on, but Rochet punches the ball away from danger.
50' Gimenez makes a great sliding challenge to stop Son from having a shot at goal from inside the box.
48' South Korea are starting the second period on the front foot to try and put Uruguay under pressure.
46' Suarez gets the second half underway for Uruguay!
Possession was evenly split in the first period but may Uruguay hope for less of the ball as they look more dangerous out of possession and on the counter-attack. South Korea are very comfortable when defending and they have not been easy to break down. The Asian side will want to test Rochet in the second half as they are yet to hit the target in this game.
The first half was evenly contested with both sides having good spells throughout. South Korea started and ended the half well with their best chance coming in the 34th minute when Ui-Jo fired over the bar despite being uncontested inside the box. Godin almost scored against the run of play just before the break as his header from a corner crashed against the woodwork, Uruguay's best chance of the half.
45' + 1' HALF-TIME: URUGUAY 0-0 SOUTH KOREA
45' There will be a minimum of one additional minute.
44' POST! Godin wins the header from Valverde's corner but his attempt crashes into the left post!
42' South Korea are attacking confidently as the game nears the half-time whistle. They are trying to overload the box and find the right cross to score.
40' Jae-Sung workes his way into the box for South Korea and tries to find a team-mate but Uruguay do well to recover and crowd out the box to stop any danger.
38' South Korea are defending brilliantly as Uruguay cannot break them down and create a goal-scoring opportunity.
36' Uruguay are trying to fight their way back into this game as South Korea gather momentum before the break.
34' HUGE MISS! Ui-Jo has a great chance to open the scoring inside the box but he fires well over the bar as he leans back while shooting.
32' In-Beom is doing well to control the game for South Korea in the midfield. He has had the most touches (30), most passes (20), and most passes into the final third (eight) for his side.
30' South Korea are starting to apply pressure on Uruguay again as they push forward to try and break the deadlock.
28' Uruguay break forward on the counter-attack and Olivera has the chance to put Nunez through on goal, but the pass is poor and Seung-Gyu collects the ball.
26' Valverde takes an out-swinging corner but it comes to nothing for Uruguay.
25' Valverde swings in a free-kick toward the far post and wins a corner for Uruguay after South Korea head the ball behind.
23' South Korea are very much on the back foot now as Uruguay dominate possession and control the tempo of this match.
21' Uruguay are growing into this game as the minutes tick by but still cannot reach the final third consistently enough to trouble South Korea.
19' Gimenez finds Valverde with a brilliant pass over the top of the South Korea defence. The midfielder shoots on the half-volley but cannot find the target.
17' Bentancur plays a lofted pass in search of Olivera but Moon-Hwan does well to intercept the pass and keep the ball for his side.
15' Uruguay are enjoying their first spell of possession but South Korea are very organised in their defensive positioning and making it hard for the South American team to attack.
13' Nunez tries to find Vecino the box with a looping pass but the midfielder cannot get a touch and trouble Seung-Gyu in goal.
11' South Korea look more likely to score so far as Uruguay are struggling to retain possession when winning it back.
9' Moon-Hwan puts in a good cross for South Korea but Gimenez rises highest to head the ball away.
7' Sang-Ho gets around Olivera using his pace but Gimenez does well to cover for his left-back.
5' South Korea are controlling possession early on here and look comfortable in doing so. Uruguay are happy to sit slightly deeper and absorb any pressure.
3' The atmosphere inside the stadium is electric as both sets of fans try to help their respective team get off to a quick start.
1' Ui-Jo gets the game underway for South Korea!
The players are making their way out of the tunnel and onto the pitch!
Uruguay have won their opening match at just one of their last seven World Cup participations (three draws, three losses), though it did come last time out in 2018 against Egypt. Nonetheless, they have still progressed from the group stage in five of those seven editions.
Alonso makes four changes from Uruguay’s most recent fixture as Godin, Gimenez, Vecino, and Pellistri all start. Bento makes nine changes from South Korea’s win over Iceland a fortnight ago as only Seung-Gyu and Woo-Young keep their places in the starting 11.
SUBS: Song Bum-Keum, Jo Hyeon-Woo, Yoon Jong-Gyu, Paik Seung-Ho, Cho Gue-Sung, Hwang Hee-Chan, Son Jun-Ho, Hong Chul, Lee Kang-In, Kwon Kyung-Won, Kwon Chang-Hoon, Kim Tae-Hwan, Cho Yu-Min, Jeong Woo-Yeong, Song Min-Kyu.
SOUTH KOREA (4-2-3-1): Kim Seung-Gyu; Kim Moon-Hwan, Kim Min-Jae, Kim Young-Gwon, Kim Jin-Su; Hwang In-Beom, Jung Woo-Young; Na Sang-Ho, Lee Kae-Sung, Son Heung-Min; Hwang Ui-Jo.
SUBS: Fernando Muslera, Sebastian Sosa, Nicolas de la Cruz, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Guillermo Varela, Lucas Torreira, Matias Vina, Maximiliano Gomez, Sebastian Coates, Facundo Torres, Edinson Cavani, Agustin Canobbio, Manuel Ugarte, Jose Rodriguez.
URUGUAY (4-3-3): Sergio Rochet; Martin Caceres, Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez, Mathias Olivera; Federico Valverde, Matias Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur; Facundo Pellistri, Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez.
South Korea finished second in their qualifying group, two points behind Iran. Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was their top scorer, finding the net four times in 10 games. Paulo Bento’s team have played 16 times so far this year, losing just three of those games. Defender Kim Min-Jae is having a good season with Napoli, winning the player of the month award for September. South Korea were knocked out in the group stages in 2018 but picked up a win over Germany to end their campaign on a high.
Uruguay have only lost once this calendar year, winning seven of their nine games. They have beaten the likes of Mexico, Canada and Chile while their biggest margin of victory came against Panama, who they beat 5-0. Uruguay were knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2018 by eventual champions France, but there is a lot more hope around Diego Alonso’s side with the emergence of players such as Darwin Nunez, Federico Valverde, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the World Cup fixture between Uruguay and South Korea.
Commentary