The national soccer team on Sept. 19 holds an event to unveil the country's uniforms for the 2022 Qatar World Cup at a Nike exhibition center in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Seon Ah

Korea has placed second in the "World Cup of Kits," which compared the uniforms of all 32 teams playing in this month's FIFA World Cup soccer finals in Qatar.

The U.S. sports network ESPN on Nov. 8 released its analysis results of all 32 uniforms to appear in the tournament. Ranked in a tournament bracket similar to that of the World Cup, this contest started from the group stage and progressed through the knockout rounds all the way to the final.  

ESPN profiled every home and away uniform of the teams in the World Cup and selected the top two from each group under the tournament format.  

The design of Korea's uniforms in this year's tournament were based on traditional goblins, tigers and the traditional pattern Samtaegeuk. The team's away uniform entered the competition as first in Group H.

ESPN said, "The shade of red is attention-grabbing without burning out your retinas, and the tiger-stripe-look shoulders continue a design theme," adding, "(The away uniform's) template takes a back seat to the incredibly colorful swathes of blue, red and yellow brushstrokes."   

In the round of 16, Korea defeated Serbia, which finished second in Group G, and later Croatia, whose uniform had a traditional checkered pattern, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Korea even beat England, the birthplace of modern soccer.

The final featured Korea versus Mexico, which eliminated Japan in the semis. The green of El Tri (red, white and green in the Mexican flag and the national team's nickname) in their uniforms gave Mexico the title.

sofiakim218@korea.kr