*This content was translated by AI.
- International Football Historical Statistics Federation AnnouncedYang Min-hyuk is the only one to be selected. 7 people per day
As of last year, the International Federation of Football History Statistics (IFFHS) selected and unveiled the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Youth Best 11 of the year, centered on players under the age of 20. Only one Korean player and seven Japanese players, more than half of them, were selected, and the joys and sorrows were mixed.
IFFHS announced the 2025 AFC Men's Youth Team of the Year on its official website on the 31st. IFFHS previously announced the AFC Team of the Year, which has nothing to do with age, and this time formed the Asian Team of the Year, focusing on the U20.
Yang Min-hyuk (Coventry City) was the only Korean player listed. Seated as a left flanker in the 3-4-3 typical. Yang Min-hyuk was selected as the IFFHS's Asian Youth Team of the Year for the second consecutive year since last year. Last year, he was listed as a front-line striker in the same formation.
On the other hand, as many as seven Japanese players were selected. Gento Shigai (Wolfsburg) was named as the front-line striker. Yokohama F by 2024.He is a next-generation striker who recently signed with Wolfsburg after playing for Marinos and succeeded in entering the European big league. On top of that, Keisuke Goto (Sintrawidan), who already has a career in Japan's A national team, and Ryunosuke Sato (FC Tokyo), the "AFC U23 Asian Cup MVP," were selected as midfielders.
In addition, Gosgi Keita (Frankfurter), Ichihara Leone (Omiya Ardiza), and Saito Shunsuke (KVC Vesterlo) swept all three backs, and even the goalkeeper was occupied by Suzuki Zaion (Parma). Suzuki is not in the U20 age group as of last year, but it is believed that he was included in the youth team considering his young age (born in 2002) and position specificity.
In fact, in 2023 alone, as many as five Korean players were selected for the Asian Youth Team, including Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), Lee Seung-won (Gangwon FC), Kim Ji-soo (Kaiserslautern), Choi Seok-hyun (Ulsan HD) and Kim Joon-hong (Suwon Samsung), while Japan only had one. However, the number reversed to one Korean (Yang Min-hyuk) and three Japanese last year, and the gap widened to a shocking level this year.
This result is not irrelevant to the future gap between Korean and Japanese soccer, which was recently revealed through the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup. South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung at the time, remained in fourth place after poor performance, while Japan won the tournament overwhelmingly as a two-year-old under-21 team. Even among the players selected for the IFFHS Youth Team of the Year, only two members won the AFC U23 Asian Cup. It is also a glimpse of Japan's thick players in this age group.
In addition to Korean and Japanese players, Iranian midfielder Amir Mohammad Rajaginia (Estegral), Iraqi midfielder Montader Madjed (Hammarbi), and Australian striker Nestor Irankunda (Watford) were selected. Madjed and Iranian Kunda, along with Yang Min-hyuk and Gosgi, have been named as the IFFHS Asian Youth Team of the Year for the second consecutive year.
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*This content was translated by AI.
