South Korea 1-4 Uruguay: goals and highlights — as it happened

Changes for South Korea: Off go Lee Jae-Sung, Oh, and Seol Young-Woo; on come Choi Jun, Tae-joon Park, and Oh Hyeon-gyu. Diego Forlán has opted to keep the same players on the pitch, looking to maintain continuity.

Maxi Araújo almost had the fifth! He finds himself one-on-one with Kim Seung-Gyu and tries to shoot at the near post, but the goalkeeper holds his ground well and clears it for a corner. FORLAN CAN'T BELIEVE IT—He's applauding and laughing. Uruguay is playing so well!

Kim Seung-Gyu punches the ball clear! Torreira sends in a cross looking for Darwin Núñez, who manages to shake off the goalkeeper. On the counter-attack, Kim Minsu fails to convert a one-on-one against Fiermarín. It’s an end-to-end match—a great second half.

A double save by Fiermarín! He tips Kang-In Lee's strike out for a corner, and then—following the set-piece—he gathers Kim Minsu's shot at the second attempt. Uruguay survives! The level of the Uruguayan goalkeeper, who plays in Colombian football, is incredible.

Varela wins it back! A massive defensive play: the full-back goes in hard to cut off a counterattack by Son, who was trying to link up with Hwang Hee-chan. A rough spell for South Korea; the second goal hit them hard.

South Korea takes possession. Uruguay cedes the ball, looking to win it back and launch a counterattack. Araujo clears Lee Tae-Seok's cross from the box. Robert Moreno calls for the press to move higher up the pitch; the Uruguayans are poorly positioned and stretched out.

Kang-In Lee sends in a cross that Fiermarin gathers at the second attempt. On the very next play, the Atlético de Madrid player wins the ball at the edge of the box, cuts inside, and fires a shot that the defense deflects out for a corner. A promising attack from the Asian side.

A saving play by Kim Min-Jae! He pokes the ball away in a one-on-one against Darwin Núñez, preventing the attacker from finishing the play at the edge of the box. Diego Forlán is demanding high intensity from his players, yet he looks calm given his team's strong start.

Piquerez had a chance! He connects with a loose ball at the edge of the box, but his shot goes over the top corner of Kim Seung-Gyu's goal. South Korea survives! That’s Uruguay's first real chance of the match.

During the October 2026 FIFA international window, the South Korean men's national football team will play two home friendly matches. The first fixture will be on Friday, October 2, against Venezuela at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan, followed four days later—on Tuesday, October 6—by a match against Uzbekistan at Mir Stadium in Yongin. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 8:00 PM local time.

Korea Republic hammered Ecuador by three goals to nil the other day with second half goals scored by Oh Hyeon-gyu, Son Heung-min and Lee Dong-gyeong. The Koreans have former Spain boss Robert Moreno in charge on an interim basis.

Uruguay were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup at the group stage with Marcelo Bielsa now replaced by former captain Diego Forlan. His first game saw the Uruguayans succumb to a 3-1 defeat to a strong Japan side in Rifu.

• The two nations met at this same stadium in March 2023, with Uruguay winning the friendly clash 2-1 thanks to goals from Sebastián Coates and Matías Vecino.
• La Celeste are winless in their last eight games on foreign soil.

In 2026, the South Korean men's national team 🇰🇷 recorded an inconsistent record of 4 wins and 4 losses across 8 matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding 8. The highlight of their schedule was the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage after opening with a 2–1 victory over the Czech Republic and suffering consecutive 1–0 defeats against Mexico and South Africa. In international friendlies, the South Korean squad suffered losses against Ivory Coast (0–4) and Austria (0–1) but secured notable victories over Trinidad and Tobago (5–0), El Salvador (1–0), and Ecuador (3–0).

So far in 2026, the Uruguay men's national football team 🇺🇾 has been navigating a challenging competitive year marked by inconsistent results. During the first half of the year, the team recorded draws in warm-up friendlies against England (1–1) and Algeria (0–0) prior to its participation in the FIFA World Cup in June; there, it was eliminated in the group stage after drawing with Saudi Arabia (1–1) and Cape Verde (2–2) and losing to Spain (0–1). Subsequently, during the September international window, the team suffered a defeat against Japan (1–3) in Asia, resulting in an overall record for the year that includes no official victories and a total of six goals scored.

The head-to-head record between the men's national teams of Uruguay 🇺🇾 and South Korea 🇰🇷 shows a clear advantage for La Celeste across their international encounters. In a total of 10 matches played throughout history, Uruguay has secured 7 wins, recorded 2 draws, and suffered only 1 defeat against the Asian side. On the FIFA World Cup stage, the two nations have faced each other three times: first in the group stage at Italy 1990, with a 1–0 Uruguayan victory; second in the Round of 16 at South Africa 2010, with a 2–1 win driven by a Luis Suárez brace; and most recently in the group stage at Qatar 2022, which ended in a goalless draw (0–0). The South Korean team's only victory came during an international friendly in October 2018, when they won 2–1 in Seoul.