South Korea announces its starting lineup against Uzbekistan at the U23 Asian Cup, "Kang Sung-jin and Kim Tae-won will join."

*This content was translated by AI.

The list of South Korea's U-23 national soccer team players to play against Uzbekistan at the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup has been announced.

South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, will face Uzbekistan in the final Group C match of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup at 8:30 p.m. on the 13th (Korea Standard Time) at Prince Faisal bin Fad Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

South Korea's Kim Tae-won (Gatale Toyama, Japan's second division) and Jung Jae-sang (Daegu FC) will be the front-line two-top, while Kang Sung-jin (Suwon Samsung) and Kim Do-hyun (Gangwon FC) will maintain a 4-4-2 format on both sides.

Kim Dong-jin (Pohang Steelers) and Kim Han-seo (Yongin FC) will work together in the midfield, while Bae Hyun-seo (Gyeongnam FC), Shin Min-ha (Gangwon), Lee Hyun-yong (Suwon FC) and Lee Kun-hee (Suwon Samsung) will stand on the defense line. The goalkeeper is Hong Seong-min (Pohang)

Compared to the last match against Lebanon, Jung Seung-bae (Suwon FC), Jung Ji-hoon (Gwangju FC), and Lee Chan-wook (Kim Cheon Sang-bu) were excluded, and Jeong Jae-sang, Kim Do-hyun and Kim Dong-jin were listed on the starting list instead.

Kim Tae-won, Bae Hyun-seo, Shin Min-ha, Lee Hyun-yong and Hong Sung-min are starting in all three group games.

South Korea is leading Group C by beating Lebanon 4-2 after drawing 0-0 with Iran earlier. The team has four points (one win and one draw) and a goal difference of +2. After beating Lebanon 3-2, Uzbekistan tied Iran 0-0 to rank second, one goal behind South Korea.

South Korea has secured at least second place in the group just by drawing with Uzbekistan on the same day, and has succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals, which will be given to the first and second-place teams in each group. However, if South Korea loses to Uzbekistan and Iran wins the match between Iran (2 points) and Lebanon (0 points) at the same time, it will be eliminated by falling to third place in the group.

Sixteen Asian teams will participate in the tournament, and the group stage will be divided into four groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals tournament to determine the winning team. It is not the year when the Olympics are held, so it does not serve as an Olympic Asian qualifying tournament.

South Korea is trying to win the championship for the first time in six years since the 2020 tournament, and they were eliminated from the quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2024. Uzbekistan is a team that has reached the semifinals or higher in four consecutive tournaments and has reached the final of two consecutive tournaments. South Korea has an overwhelming advantage with 13 wins, one draw and two losses in the past between the U-23 national teams.

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*This content was translated by AI.