*This content was translated by AI.
It was truly a 'shameful' advance to the quarterfinals.
The South Korean under-23 (U-23) national soccer team managed to reach the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup. South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, was completely defeated by Uzbekistan 0-2 in the third Group C match of the tournament at Prince Faisal Finn Fad Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the 13th (Korea time), but won the quarterfinals thanks to the results of other teams.
South Korea, which had earlier drawn 0-0 with Iran and beat Lebanon 4-2, was able to confirm its advance to the quarterfinals on its own just by drawing on the day, but lost two goals in the second half alone and suffered a helpless defeat. The ball possession rate of 66.7% was meaningless. Rather, the number of shots was 6-8, inferior to Uzbekistan, and the number of shots on target was only one (four in Uzbekistan).
Even if they drew, the situation of advancing to the quarterfinals became rather poisonous. Since the first half of the day, South Korea has played with increasing ball possession from the back and focusing only on stability. In the first half, Uzbekistan also relaxed, leading to a balance of zero. However, when Uzbekistan gained momentum early in the second half, Korea began to falter. In the end, he allowed the first run in the third minute of the second half with a single shot from the opponent's mid-range shot.
Even after losing points, Lee Min-sung rarely caught the flow of the game. In the meaningless possession of the ball, he failed to create a significant opportunity. Rather, he faced a crisis of additional runs due to a rear pass miss, and eventually was hit with an additional run following a side cross and pushed to the edge of the cliff. South Korea, which failed to score a comeback goal to spark a chase afterwards, was eventually completely defeated by Uzbekistan 0-2.
It was a shock loss. Unlike Korea, which played in the U-23 team, Uzbekistan played in the U-21 team, which is two years younger than the Korean team. Nevertheless, Korea bowed its head without even creating a proper opportunity. In addition to the defense that lost two goals, there was only one shot to the inside of the goal and the offense that failed to change the atmosphere in the end was deeply disappointing.
Nevertheless, the qualification for the quarterfinals has come. At the same time, as the news of Iran's 0-1 defeat by Lebanon spread, South Korea advanced to the quarterfinals with four points, ranking second in the group after Uzbekistan (7 points). Lebanon was eliminated with three points and Iran with two points. It was not a place to advance to the quarterfinals only with his ability, but to the quarterfinals of Eojiri.
South Korea, which advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-ranked team in Group C, will clash with the first-ranked team in Group D in the quarterfinals. The final Group D match will be held on the 14th, followed by China (4 points), Australia (3 points), Iraq (2 points), and Thailand (1 point) ahead of the final match. Depending on the result of the final match, China or Australia is likely to be Korea's quarterfinal opponent.
If they win the quarterfinals and reach the semifinals, they will compete with the winner of the Japan-Jordan match to advance to the final. Japan also had a two-year-old U-21 team in the tournament, but it was the first team to confirm its advance to the quarterfinals early in the tournament, defeating Syria 5-0 and the United Arab Emirates 3-0.
The quarterfinals of the tournament will be held at 0:30 a.m. on the 18th at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If Korea fails to pass the quarterfinals again, it will drop out of the quarterfinals for the third consecutive tournament.
<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>
*This content was translated by AI.
