So surely it is beyond them to produce another huge surprise when they take on the tournament favourites, Brazil?
Well, their chances certainly haven’t been hurt by the slew of injuries Tite is contending with after a group stage that seemed to take a player from him with every passing game.
Here, we examine how South Korea and a patched-up Brazil line up.
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Brazil vs. South Korea lineups
Tite has angrily shut down suggestions that he took risks with Gabriel Jesus’ fitness before the Arsenal forward’s World Cup was prematurely ended by injury.
Jesus will not feature again in Qatar after picking up a knee problem against Cameroon, but his national team boss insists there was no indication that might happen before he took to the field.
“I don’t like hearing lies out there, evil lies,” he said.
“At no time do we play for victory at the risk of a player’s peril.”
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Brazil starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Alisson (GK) — 14. Militao, 3. Thiago Silva, 4. Marquinhos, 2. Danilo — 7. Paqueta, 5. Casemiro — 11. Raphinha, 21. Rodrygo, 20. Vinicius Jr. — 9. Richarlison
Injured: Alex Sandro, Alex Telles, Gabriel Jesus Suspended: none
Beyond Jesus, Brazil were hit with more injury misery this week as Alex Telles was also ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.
Alex Sandro is still unavailable, too, though Neymar and Danilo are back, with the latter filling in as an emergency left-back.
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South Korea starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Kim Seung-gyu (GK) — 15. Kim Moon-hwan, 4. Kim Min-jae, 19. Kim Young-gwon, 3. Kim Jin-su — 5. Jung Woo-young, 6. Hwang In-beom — 11. Hwang Hee-chan, 10. Lee Jae-sung, 7. Son Heung-min — 9. Cho Gue-sung
Injured: none Suspended: none
Hwang Hee-chan’s goal off the bench against Portugal earns him a starting berth in attack, while Kim Min-jae returns at centre-back.
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Brazil vs. South Korea World Cup squads
Here are the names on Brazil and South Korea’s World Cup squad lists in Qatar (caps correct as of start of Qatar 2022):
