Granqvist Penalty Gives Sweden 1-0 Win Over South Korea at 2018 FIFA World Cup

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Sweden defender and captain Andreas Granqvist's perfectly executed spot-kick proved to be the difference as the Scandinavian team beat South Korea 1-0 in Nizhny Novgorod on Monday.

Kim Min-woo was the guilty man for South Korea as his foul forced the match officials to consult the video assistant referee and award the penalty midway through the second half.

Kim had come on from the bench as a substitute for defender Park Joo-ho, who was injured and stretchered off the pitch in the 28th minute.

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Sweden will next face reigning champions Germany, who were stunned by Mexico 1-0 on Sunday, in Sochi on Saturday, with South Korea taking on Mexico in Rostov-on-Don the same day.

The match was attended by a total of 42,300 supporters, FIFA said via its official Twitter account on Monday.

The 45,000-seater Nizhny Novgorod Arena will host another three group-stage games, a round of 16 matches and a quarter-final.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches set to be played in 11 cities across Russia.