South Korea at the CONCACAF Gold Cup

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South Korea played in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2000 and 2002 to prepare for the 2002 World Cup hosted in Korea. They and Qatar are the only Asian teams to take part in this North American tournament. In seven Gold Cup games, Korea did not win in regular time and finished fourth in 2002 after reaching the knockout stage with just one point, then beating Mexico on penalties in the quarterfinals. In 2000 they were eliminated after the group stage by a coin toss that allowed Canada to advance; Canada went on to win the tournament. Lee Young-pyo played in all seven Korea games. In 2002, Song Chong-gug played every minute of Korea’s run to fourth place. Kim Nam-il was named to the tournament's Best XI, the first and only Asian player to receive that honor at a North American continental championship. Five Korean players scored one goal each in the Gold Cup, with three of those goals coming against Costa Rica.