2023 World Cup: South Korea Women vs Germany Women – Match preview, live stream, kick-off time, prediction, team news, lineups
Germany are looking to bounce back following a surprise defeat to Colombia. They face South Korea in the final group game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup at 11:00 BST – the other final group stage game, also Group H, Morocco vs Colombia takes place at the same time.
Germany are currently sitting in second place on the Group H table, while South Korea are at the bottom of the group having lost both their opening two games.
Match Preview
South Korea World Cup campaign
After a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Colombia in the tournament’s opening match, South Korea sought redemption when they faced Morocco on Matchday Two.
Regrettably, for Colin Bell’s team, their hopes were dashed as Ibtissam Jraidi scored in the sixth minute, giving Morocco an early lead.
Despite dominating possession with over 60%, South Korea failed to register a shot on target, resulting in a narrow 1-0 defeat.
With zero points in their first two games, South Korea’s chances of progressing to the knockout rounds seemed like a miracle. They would need to beat Germany by a five-goal margin and hope Morocco lose against Colombia.
Although the odds were stacked against them, South Korea remained determined to secure a positive outcome, especially since they had suffered six consecutive losses at the Women’s World Cup since their victory against Spain in the 2015 tournament.
Germany World Cup campaign
Germany started the tournament on a high note, crushing Morocco with a commanding 6-0 victory in their opening game. However, their momentum was halted by an unexpected defeat to Colombia.
Alex Popp’s 89th-minute penalty appeared to salvage Germany’s pride by equalising Linda Caicedo’s opener. Yet, a late set piece in the seventh minute of stoppage time, with Manuela Vanegas heading home from a corner kick, led to Germany’s first group stage defeat in the Women’s World Cup since 1995 when they were defeated by Sweden.
Despite consistently reaching the knockout rounds in all previous eight editions of the Women’s World Cup, Germany still needed to put in some effort to maintain this impressive record.
Thanks to their significant goal difference advantage over third-placed Morocco, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team would advance to the last-16 if they achieved the same result as the North African side in the group’s other game against Colombia.
Team News
South Korea are expected to be without the services of Lim Seon-joo, who missed the defeat to Morocco through injury.
After being brought into the lineup on Sunday, experienced goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi is expected to retain her place between the posts.
Choe Yu-ri dropped out of the South Korean side for Matchday Two, but she is likely to return to the starting XI for the final group game.
As for Germany, Marina Hegering could make her first appearance of the tournament after missing the opening two games with an injury issue.
The Wolfsburg defender is likely to replace Eintracht Frankfurt’s Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh, who picked up an injury in Sunday’s contest.
Felicitas Rauch, who missed the defeat to Colombia, has returned to light training, but Thursday’s encounter will come too soon for the full-back.
South Korea Women possible starting lineup:
Jung-mi; Hye-ri, Hye-ji, Seo-yeon; Hyo-joo, Geum-min, So-Yun, So-Hyun, Sel-gi; Yu-ri, Eun-sun
Germany Women possible starting lineup:
Frohms; Huth, Hendrich, Hegering, Hagel; Oberdorf, Dabritz; Brand, Magull, Buhl; Popp
WTX Sports predicts Germany 3-0 South Korea
Off the back of their shock defeat, Germany will be determined to prove themselves and bounce back with a statement win. The class, skill and experience of the German team will set them apart. We expect this to be a routine game for the European squad.