An opening defeat to Sweden has left Shin Tae-yong's side playing catch-up in Group F, particularly after Mexico pulled off the shock of the first round by beating Germany 1-0. 

Now the Koreans face Mexico, and another loss would probably end their chances of making the Knockout Stage for the third time since they co-hosted the tournament in 2002.

Korea Republic will need to pick up at least a point against the Mexicans after suffering a 1-0 defeat of their own at the hands of Sweden in Nizhny Novgorod on Monday if they are to harbour hopes of progressing to the knockout phase for the third time in the country’s history.

But the impressive display by the Mexicans at Luzhniki Stadium, when Hirving Lozano’s goal saw off Joachim Low’s side, has left Ki concerned about the challenge that lies ahead for him and his teammates.

"Park's injury wasn't severe as we originally thought as he only has a small damage on his right hamstring," a team official said. 

"However, he still needs three weeks of recovery, meaning he'll not be able to play in Korea Republic's next two matches."

Korea Republic lost 1-0 to Sweden in their Group F opener on Monday. They play Mexico on Saturday before facing reigning World Cup champions Germany on June 27.

Korea Republic coach Shin Tae-yong began with a 4-3-3 formation with Son Heung-min occupying the left, Hwang Hee-chan the right and Kim Shin-wook in the centre as the East Asians spent much of the first 15 minutes on the front foot without creating a chance of note.

From then on, though, Sweden took a hold of the game and it seemed only a matter of time before the winning goal arrived, which it duly did when Andreas Granqvist converted a VAR awarded penalty in the 65th minute.

Jo was a surprise choice by coach Shin between the posts as the Daegu FC custodian picked up just his sixth cap for his national team ahead of more experienced duo Kim Seung-gyu and Kim Jin-hyeon.

Despite his relative inexperience, though, the 26-year-old shone in goal and made a string of saves that kept the Koreans in the game throughout the 90 minutes and he was only beaten by Andreas Granqvist’s 65th minute penalty.

Veteran Swedish skipper Granqvist scored the only goal of the game from the spot after Viktor Claesson was upended by Korea Republic substitute Kim Min-woo Kim in the 62nd minute.

Despite passionate appeals, El Salvadorean referee Joel Aguilar initially waved away Swedish penalty claims.

But after consulting the video, he pointed to the spot.

It was the third VAR penalty awarded in Russia 2018 after France and Peru also benefited from video referrals.

With all the teams having now played one match, the-AFC.com highlights some of the key statistics among the Asian sides in the first of our World Cup Stats Wraps.