Fateful match between Korea and Japan will be confirmed when they advance to the semifinals of Korea... "How lucky is this?" First-come, first-served semi-final, and then defeated Jordan after penalty shootout

*This content was translated by AI.

Japan struggled to reach the semifinals after a penalty shootout. If Lee Min-sung beats Australia in the quarterfinals, he will play a match between Korea and Japan in the semifinals.

Japan's under-23 (U-23) national soccer team advanced to the semifinals by winning against Jordan (1-1, PSO 4-2) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 16th (Korea time).

Japan took a place in the semifinal match first. If the South Korean national team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, wins the quarterfinals against Australia at the same place at 0:30 a.m. on the 18th, the match between Korea and Japan will take place in the semifinals. The semifinals are scheduled to be held on the 20th.

Japan's advance to the semifinals was not smooth. In the 30th minute of the first half, Japan was dragged away by giving up the first goal by Jordan's Ali Al-Zhaiche. Fortunately, Furuya Shusuke scored an equalizer in the fifth minute of the second half to balance the game, but no additional points were scored during the 120-minute bloody battle, including the 30th minute before and after extra time.

The fate was decided in the penalty shootout. Japan's No. 1 kicker Ichihara Leone scored. Jordan's first kicker Mohamed Taha's shot was blocked by the Japanese goalkeeper.

He also had good luck to be called the greatest of all time. Yutaka Michiwaki's shot as the second kicker was blocked by the Jordanian goalkeeper, but the ball rolled back into the goal line while the goalkeeper cheered. A penalty shootout is recognized as a score if the ball crosses the goal line before the situation is completely over. Jordan, whose momentum was dampened, fell to his knees, missing even the fourth kicker.

South Korea will meet Japan if it advances to the semifinals. First of all, South Korea, which advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-ranked team in Group C, must overcome its difficult opponent of Australia, the first-ranked team in Group D.

Coach Lee Min-sung said through the Korea Football Association, "Australia is a team with good organizational power and balance of offense and defense, and physically strong," adding, "We will prepare well so that the entire team can show an unashamed performance in the national flag."

South Korea lost to Uzbekistan 0-2 in the final group match, and the atmosphere was somewhat subdued. On the other hand, Australia scored two goals in the final match against Iraq in the extra time alone, winning a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. In previous records, South Korea led with nine wins, four draws and three losses, but in two warm-up matches in June last year after coach Lee Min-sung took office, they were inferior with one draw and one loss.

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*This content was translated by AI.