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After that victory over Senegal, they secured third place in their group which allowed them to compete against several other third-placed teams from other groups for an opportunity to advance to the knockouts.

In total to qualify for the knockout, six third-place teams competed against each other. And among those six teams, only four of them advanced to the knockouts.

Surprisingly, the South Korean team didn't even make it out of the group stage. Losing all three of their group matches, they exited the tournament quite early.

It was surprising to see them exiting the tournament so early despite the composition of the team in their group. With the likes of the USA and Burkina Faso placed in their group, it truly was quite surprising to see them finish last.

At their opening match, they were obliterated by the American players. Scoring three goals past them, the American team easily won the first match against them with an embarrassing score of three to one.

Then in their second match which was against France, they put up a worthy show of their stature. However, they still failed to win or tie the match. In the end, they lost the game with a single goal scored in the last minute of the match.

As for their third match, once again they drew the short straw as they lost the game with a single goal difference.

Just like this, after losing all three of their game, one of the strongest teams from Asia exited the tournament without even being able to compete in the knockouts.

As for Park Seung-Gyu, he put up a noteworthy performance despite the poor performance from his teammates. And, due to it, despite them exiting the tournament so early on, nobody blamed him.

Instead after this tournament, his reputation only grew.

From Group A, Morocco and Ecuador made it to the knockouts, whereas Indonesia qualified for the ranking of the third-placed teams after placing third in their group.

From Group B, Spain and Mali qualified for the knockouts, and Uzbekistan placed third in the group. From Group C, England and Brazil qualified for the knockouts, and Iran made it to the ranking of third-placed teams.

Among all other groups, Group C was rather peculiar as it saw an influx of goals. And, it was possible because of the presence of one team called New Caledonia.

In their first match, they lost the opening game against England by a landslide score difference of ten to nothing. Respectively, they lost their second match against Brazil by a massive score difference of nine to nothing. Then, they again lost their final match against Iran by a huge score difference of five to nothing.

In total, they conceded a total of twenty-four goals in just only three games. 10-0, 9-0, and 5-0, they lost all their three games without scoring once.

After losing such miserably, one might even question their participation in the tournament. Just, how did they even make it to the World Cup?

In group D, after their recent performances, Argentina took the first spot, dethroning the reigning group leader Senegal after they suffered a loss in their final group match against Japan. However, even after losing the final game, they still made it to the knockouts due to the goal difference, despite losing the same number of games as Japan.

And, since Japan couldn't come in second, they had to compete against other third-placed teams for a spot in the knockouts.

Similarly from Group E, France after winning all three of their group matches, easily made it to the knockouts. Whereas, the USA clenched the other spot for the knockouts after coming in second.

Finally from Group F, Germany qualified for the knockouts after winning all three of their group matches, followed by Mexico who came up in second who won a game, lost a game, and drew a game. However, their journey to the knockout wasn't smooth sailing either as they barely made it to the knockouts based on goal difference.

Venezuela who also happened to win a game, lose a game, and tie a game barely missed the opportunity to secure a direct ticket to the knockouts because of the goal difference placed third in their group.

Just like this, the group matches concluded with 12 teams securing a spot in the knockouts while 6 teams had to compete against each other for the remaining four slots in the knockouts.

As for the goal tally, Mateo and Hiro led the scoring sheet followed by Brunner of Germany and Elias of Brazil. Despite England's and Brazil's goal difference against New Caledonia, none of its players could clench the top spot.

With that being said, while the players of the teams that booked their spots in the knockouts enjoyed their day off after the end of the group stage, players of the third-placed team who were competing for the remaining spots bust their asses off in the training even after the end of the group matches.

They just couldn't get even a single moment to rest as they had to compete in the third-placed matches right away without any break.

They couldn't even complain as it was completely fair. Despite the lack of rest periods, it was still better than going home, wasn't it?

This is why, players of Japan trained obediently without any complaints despite the lack of rest. They had barely made it out of the group.

And, also because of Taki's performance, training sessions got even more heated as many of them who didn't get minutes felt quite motivated after witnessing Taki's performance.

Just like them, he hadn't got any minutes in the match until now. Yet, now look at him. Putting up such a brilliant performance, he had already marked his presence on the radar of the coaches.

Now, even the first-choice keeper had to be sharp and vigilant. Otherwise, his position might get snatched away.

Who knows if they trained hard, they might be next?

But, even so, one thing's for sure, they could never covet Hiro's position unless he gets injured. However, if he did get injured, it would only hamper their performance in the tournament.

So, it's better if he continues to play.