It was Hong’s nerveless spot-kick that saw off Spain in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout that took the Koreans into the last four and territory no Asian team had experienced before, or since.

Group stage wins over Poland and Portugal sandwiched a draw with the United States before an extra-time win over Italy set up Guus Hiddink’s team for the remarkable win over the Spanish which remains the pinnacle of Asia’s World Cup history.

Hong’s typically assured displays, where his unsurpassed ability to read the game spread confidence throughout Hiddink’s young team, were at the heart of a run that prompted nationwide euphoria.

Aware that Sweden will pose a stiff challenge and chances could be at a premium, head coach Shin Tae-yong has had his players working on set-pieces behind closed doors.

This has been ongoing since Shin named the 23-player squad and such is his desire for the element of surprise that the Korea Republic coach decided against using any of the set-pieces in the friendly against Senegal last week, despite it being played behind closed doors.

In a recent friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ki threw away his captain's armband in the locker room during the halftime break after his side conceded two goals at home. 

After Korea Republic were held to a 0-0 draw against Bolivia in their pre-2018 FIFA World Cup Russia tune-up match in Austria, the Swansea City midfielder told reporters that he felt like he was a "liar" since he couldn't keep his word to fans with the poor results.

It will be Korea Republic's ninth consecutive appearance in the FIFA World Cup, and 10th overall, with Shin Tae-yong's side facing a steep challenge with the likes of defending champions Germany, Sweden and Mexico to contend with.

The two-time AFC Asian Cup champions, however, are confident they will be able to match their opponents and seal a place in the Knockout Stage.

The Socceroos matched the highly-fancied French for long periods in Kazan but went down 2-1 to an Antoine Griezmann penalty and an 81st-minute deflected strike by Paul Pogba, either side of Mile Jedinak's goal.

“There’s still mixed emotions. We’re Obviously disappointed because I think we deserved more,” Behich said.

“The performance we put in was different class against a tough opponent. I thought we deserved more but there was a lot of positives to take from this game.

“We should be proud of what we put in. We’ve still got two games to build on this performance. Our focus has already switched to the next game.”

The Portuguese coach, leading Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup for the second time running, credited the players for a hard-fought win. IR Iran were made to wait until the final minute of added time to find a winner through an own goal from Moroccan defender Aziz Bouhaddouz.

“This win was the result of hard work, intelligent cohesion and a great attitude from the players,” said Queiroz, following the team’s first FIFA World Cup win since 1998.

Morocco dominated for extended spells at Kretsovsky Stadium, but resilient defending from the Iranians helped keep a clean sheet, before delivering the killer blow in the dying seconds after Ehsan Hajsafi curled in a free-kick from the left flank that Bouhaddouz headed past his own goalkeeper.

Juan Antonio Pizzi's side dominated possession and passed the ball accurately throughout the match but their lack of urgency meant they could not bring the ball into the final third and failed to record a single shot on target all night.

Defensively, the Green Falcons were far from their best as they allowed Russia to physically dominate and score at will despite not spending extended spells of time in the Saudi defensive third.