South Korea vs. Iran Recap - World Cup Qualifiers 2014: Iran, Korea Qualify; Uzbekistan Finishes Third

Iran and South Korea have booked their passes to next year's World Cup competition after the former earned a hard fought 1-0 victory on Tuesday.

Iran finished atop Group A with 16 points while South Korea finished in a tie for second place with 14; third-place Uzbekistan finished with the same amount of points as South Korea but had a lower goal differential and only gained one of six points against its immediate rivals.

The top two sides in the group earn automatic passage to the World Cup finals next summer in Brazil while the third place team must play at least four more matches to realize its World Cup dreams. Uzbekistan will have to compete with either Oman or Jordan in a two-legged playoff. If it pulls off a victory, the team would then have to take on the fifth-place team in the CONMEBOL in another playoff to determine which side competes in the World Cup next year.

Iran's qualification is the nation's first since 2006 in Germany. The team has qualified three times in its history but has never gotten out of the first round. Iran finished the 2014 qualification campaign with five wins, one draw, and two losses.

South Korea will compete in its eighth straight World Cup competition; the team has not missed the tournament since 1986. South Korea's best run came in 2002 when it managed to finish fourth in the competition as one of the host nations. South Korea finished the 2014 group stage with four wins, two draws, and two losses.

Uzbekistan managed a tremendous 5-1 victory over Qatar on Tuesday but only had a +5 goal differential; Korea finished with six more goals scored than conceded.