The Korean U-20 (under 20) soccer team led by coach 스포츠토토 Kim Eun-joong defeated China to advance to the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup. By advancing to the semifinals, he also won the right to advance to the FIFA U-20 World Cup finals.
The U-20 national team succeeded in advancing to the semifinals with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory at the end of the U-20 Asian Cup quarterfinal against China held at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on the 12th (hereinafter Korean time).
Korea, which finished the first half 0-0, gave up the opening goal to Bao Sheng-shin in the 2nd minute to lead to 0-1. However, in the 17th minute of the second half, Kim Yong-Hak’s equalizer made the score 1-1.
Seok-Hyun Choi scored an additional goal in the second half of extra time to make it 3-1. After that, Korea won with a 2-goal difference and secured a ticket to the semifinals.
Korea will play the semi-final match against Uzbekistan, the host nation, at 11:00 pm on the 15th at Tashkent Milli Stadium. A win in this match will bring Korea one step closer to regaining the top spot in Asia for the first time in 11 years since 2012. In 2018, it reached the final, but was defeated by Saudi Arabia and frustrated at the threshold of the championship.
The Asian Cup serves as a regional qualifier for the U-20 World Cup to be held in Indonesia in May. The top four teams participate as Asian representatives, and Korea even won a World Cup ticket by advancing to the semifinals.
Another semifinal matchup was confirmed as Japan vs. Iraq. Japan defeated Jordan and Iraq defeated Iran to advance to the semifinals.