South Korea have already pulled off one major shock at this World Cup in pipping Uruguay to qualification from their group courtesy of a win over Portugal.
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 might line up.
MORE: Quarterfinals World Cup 2022: Teams qualified, bracket, match schedule, fixtures and how it works
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.”
MORE: Brazil vs South Korea prediction, odds, betting tips and best bets for World Cup 2022 Round of 16
Brazil predicted starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Alisson (GK) — 14. Militao, 3. Thiago Silva, 4. Marquinhos, 2. Danilo — 8. Fred, 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 in contention for this one, with the latter more likely to start given the desperate need for fit full-backs.
MORE: World Cup bracket 2022: Live updated FIFA knockout stages and printable version for download
South Korea predicted starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. S. Kim (GK) — 15. M.H. Kwon, 4. M. Kim, 19. Y. Kim, 3. J. Kim — 5. Jung, 6. Hwang I. — 11. Hwang H., 18. K.I Lee, 7. Son — 9. Cho
- Injured: none
- Suspended: none
Hwang Hee-chan‘s goal off the bench against Portugal could earn him a starting berth in attack against Brazil although Cho Gue-Sung could keep his spot.
Kim Min-jae is also likely to come back into the defence after missing that thrilling clash as a precaution.
MORE: World Cup 2022 top goal scorer: Updated rankings in the Golden Boot race
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):
Brazil World Cup squad
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | Alisson | Liverpool (ENG) | 30 | 56 |
| GK | 23 | Ederson | Manchester City (ENG) | 29 | 18 |
| GK | 12 | Weverton | Palmeiras (BRA) | 34 | 11 |
| DEF | 4 | Marquinhos | PSG (FRA) | 28 | 70 |
| DEF | 14 | Eder Militao | Real Madrid (SPA) | 24 | 23 |
| DEF | 3 | Thiago Silva | Chelsea (ENG) | 38 | 108 |
| DEF | 2 | Danilo | Juventus (ITA) | 24 | 15 |
| DEF | 16 | Alex Telles | Sevilla (SPA) | 29 | 7 |
| DEF | 13 | Dani Alves | Pumas UNAM (MEX) | 39 | 125 |
| DEF | 6 | Alex Sandro | Juventus (ITA) | 31 | 37 |
| DEF | 24 | Bremer | Juventus (ITA) | 25 | 1 |
| MID | 15 | Fabinho | Liverpool (ENG) | 28 | 28 |
| MID | 5 | Casemiro | Manchester United (ENG) | 30 | 64 |
| MID | 17 | Bruno Guimaraes | Newcastle United (ENG) | 24 | 8 |
| MID | 8 | Fred | Manchester United (ENG) | 29 | 27 |
| MID | 7 | Lucas Paqueta | West Ham (ENG) | 25 | 34 |
| MID | 22 | Everton Ribeiro | Flamengo (BRA) | 33 | 22 |
| FWD | 26 | Gabriel Martinelli | Arsenal (ENG) | 21 | 3 |
| FWD | 20 | Vinicius Jr. | Real Madrid (SPA) | 22 | 15 |
| FWD | 10 | Neymar | PSG (FRA) | 30 | 120 |
| FWD | 19 | Antony | Manchester United (ENG) | 22 | 10 |
| FWD | 21 | Rodrygo | Real Madrid (SPA) | 21 | 6 |
| FWD | 11 | Raphinha | Barcelona (SPA) | 25 | 10 |
| FWD | 9 | Richarlison | Tottenham (ENG) | 25 | 37 |
| FWD | 25 | Pedro | Flamengo (BRA) | 25 | 2 |
| FWD | 18 | Gabriel Jesus | Arsenal (ENG) | 25 | 56 |
South Korea World Cup squad
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | Kim Seung-gyu | Al Shabab (KSA) | 32 | 66 |
| GK | 12 | Song Bum-keun | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 25 | 1 |
| GK | 21 | Jo Hyeon-woo | Ulsan Hyundai (KOR) | 31 | 22 |
| DEF | 19 | Kwon Kyung-won | Gamba Osaka (JAP) | 30 | 27 |
| DEF | 15 | Kim Moon-hwan | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 27 | 21 |
| DEF | 4 | Kim Min-jae | Napoli (ITA) | 25 | 44 |
| DEF | 19 | Kim Young-gwon | Ulsan Hyundai (KOR) | 32 | 95 |
| DEF | 3 | Kim Jin-su | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 30 | 61 |
| DEF | 23 | Kim Taehwan | Ulsan Hyundai (KOR) | 33 | 18 |
| DEF | 2 | Yoon Jong-gyu | FC Seoul (KOR) | 24 | 3 |
| DEF | 24 | Cho Yu-min | Daejeon (KOR) | 25 | 3 |
| MID | 14 | Hong Chul | Daegu FC (KOR) | 32 | 46 |
| MID | 22 | Kwon Chang-hoon | Gimcheon Sangmu (KOR) | 28 | 41 |
| MID | 17 | Na Sang-ho | FC Seoul (KOR) | 26 | 23 |
| MID | 8 | Paik Seungho | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 25 | 13 |
| MID | 13 | Son Jun-ho | Shandong Taishan (CHN) | 30 | 14 |
| MID | 7 | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) | 30 | 105 |
| MID | 26 | Son Mink-yu | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 23 | 2 |
| MID | 18 | Lee Kang-in | Mallorca (SPA) | 21 | 5 |
| FWD | 10 | Lee Jae-sung | Mainz 05 (GER) | 30 | 64 |
| FWD | 5 | Jung Wooyoung | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 32 | 66 |
| FWD | 25 | Jeon Woo-yeong | SC Freiburg (GER) | 23 | 9 |
| FWD | 6 | Hwang In-beom | Olympiacos (GRE) | 26 | 37 |
| FWD | 11 | Hwang Hee-han | Wolves (ENG) | 26 | 49 |
| FWD | 9 | Cho Gue-sung | Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) | 24 | 15 |
| FWD | 16 | Hwang Ui-jo | Olympiacos (GRE) | 30 | 39 |
Credit: sportingnews.com