6. South Korea
How they qualified: Runners-up in their group in the 4th Round of Asian qualifying
Last time: Last 16, lost 2-1 to Uruguay
FIFA Ranking: 58
What are their chances in Brazil? The most successful Asian team in World Cup history, 2014 will be South Korea's eighth successive competition. In 2002, managed by Guus Hiddink and on home soil, they made it all the way to the Semi-Finals, the best performance by any Asian team ever. The Koreans are obviously hoping to recapture that magic or at least take some inspiration from the 2002 squad by appointing that team's captain, sweeper Hong Myung-Bo, as their new coach in June of this year. Hong is Korea's fourth manager since they made it to the last 16 of the South African World Cup in 2010. Huh Jung-Moo, the manager for that competition, was replaced by Cho Kwang-Rae, who took the team to the 2011 Asian Cup, losing to Japan in the Semi-Finals. That disappointing performance resulted in Cho's firing, to be replaced by Choi Kang-Hee, who guided the team through the Asian World Cup qualifiers. Choi only agreed to manage the team until qualification, suggesting that a foreign coach could then be hired. Instead they went with Hong, who will probably be the only Asian manager at the World Cup. As this whole managerial merry-go-round might imply, it hasn't exactly been plain sailing for the Koreans in qualification. In the end they only made it thanks to having a goal difference that was superior to rivals Uzbekistan by a single goal. Hong has been in charge for six games since, his sole win being a friendly against the might of Haiti. On a more positive note, South Korea picked up a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics with a team featuring skillful midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng, then of Celtic, now on loan at Sunderland from Swansea. The talented youngsters that made up the Korean Olympic team have mostly graduated to the senior squad, with most of their World Cup team likely to be under the age of 25. South Korea are the lowest ranked team to have qualified so far and it's probably not the right year for them. They will do well to win any games in Brazil, but the outlook appears more optimistic for further in the future.