"Two consecutive wins against Korea" China's U23 predicts a "total mobilization" of the Asian Games wild card

*This content was translated by AI.

China's U-23 national soccer team, which won a surprise runner-up at the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, will also try for its first medal at the Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games in September.

According to Chinese media such as Tianzhou Bao and Sohu on the 4th (Korea Standard Time), the Chinese Football Association plans to use not only the U-23 national team but also wild cards over the age of 24 that can be used for up to three Asian Games in September.

While Korean football, which can be exempted from military service if it wins a gold medal, gives great meaning to the Asian Games, it is a rather unexpected choice in that most other countries do not pay much attention to the Asian Games.

In fact, Japan is scheduled to participate as a U-21 national team like the last AFC U-23 Asian Cup, even though it is an Asian Games held in its own country. There is also no plan to utilize wild cards.

The Vietnam Football Association, which ranked third by beating South Korea in the third place match of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, also recently mentioned the possibility of the U-21 national team participating in the Asian Games. These are choices that focus on the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics two years later rather than the low-importance Asian Games.

On the other hand, Chinese soccer, which has advanced beyond the tournament for the first time in AFC U-23 Asian Cup history to the finals, is trying to win its first medal at the Asian Games. China's quarterfinals are the best since the 2002 tournament, when men's soccer at the Asian Games was restricted to U-23. During the Asian Games, the silver medal was the best performance at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.

Sohu said, "Although the official position of the Chinese Football Association or the Chinese U-23 national team has not yet come out, it is expected to aim for a higher performance and further medal than the 2022 Beijing Asian Games (quarterfinals)," adding, "To this end, we will select elite players, including wild cards, at the Asian Games."

If China plays an elite national team, including wild cards, it will also be a concern for South Korean soccer, which is trying to win its fourth consecutive Asian Games men's football. China is always considered a lower team than South Korea, but at least in the recent U-23 national team, South Korea is rather inferior. In fact, South Korea was completely defeated 0-1 and 0-2 in two away warm-up matches in China in March and November last year, respectively. At the time of the 0-2 defeat, the head coach was Lee Min-sung, the current head coach of the U-23 national team.

Of course, it is highly likely that a large number of European players will join the Asian Games, where military service special cases are at stake, and if a wild card joins, South Korea's power can be far ahead of China. However, if it is not possible to transfer to overseas teams or if it is difficult to expect a major change tactically, China's challenge, which has recently won two consecutive games against Korea, may be daunting. Considering Japan, which has overwhelmingly reached the top of Asia with the U-21 national team, the burden of the Asian Games gold medal could increase.

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*This content was translated by AI.