Diego Godin and Fede Valverde both struck the post during Uruguay and South Korea’s Group H debut against each other at the Education City Stadium.
Son-Heung Min, the captain of South Korea, was forced to play with a face mask after breaking his eye socket earlier this month, but the Tottenham Hotspur forward was unable to make much of an impression.
In the 34th minute, Hwang Ui-Jo had a golden chance to give South Korea the lead but skied over from close range after right-back Kim Moon-low Hwan’s cross.
In the 43rd minute, a header from Godin off of a corner from Valverde by Uruguay nearly made them regret their decision.
Around the hour mark, Son had a slight injury scare after Martin Caceres stepped on him, but he was eventually able to continue.
In the 81st and 90th minutes, respectively, Darwin Nunez curled a shot wide and Valverde unleashed a rasping long-range attempt that cannoned off the post, but Uruguay was unable to get through.