North Korea National Football Team

City:
Pyongyang
Short name:
Samba of East Asia

The North Korea national football team (Munhwaeo Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 국가종합팀, recognized as Korea DPR by FIFA) represents North Korea in men's international football and it is controlled by the DPR Korea Football Association, the governing body for Football in North Korea. The team represents both FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

In their 1966 World Cup debut, North Korea reached the quarter-finals and beat Italy in the group stage becoming the first men's Asian team in history to make it past the group stage. During the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers, controversy arose when the team's supporters rioted, interfering with the opponents' safe egress from the stadium, because of North Korea's failure to qualify. In 2009, the team qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the second World Cup appearance in their history. North Korea has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup five times; in 1980, when they finished fourth, in 1992, 2011, in 2015, and in 2019. The current team is composed of both native North Koreans and Japanese-born Chongryon-affiliated Koreans.

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