* Translated by Papago

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"Overseas group" Nam Seung-eun and Oh Dan-bi + 2 high school students... U-20 Women's Asian Cup Confirms 23-man List

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Park Jaeho

*This content was translated by AI.

Park Yoon-jung, coach of the women's U-20 national soccer team (right). /Photo = Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
Park Yoon-jung, coach of the women's U-20 national soccer team (right). /Photo = Courtesy of the Korea Football Association

Twenty-three players for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Women's Asian Cup have been decided.

The Korea Football Association announced the final list of the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup national team on the 13th.

This year's U-20 Women's Asian Cup will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from April 1 to 18. South Korea was tied with North Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan in Group B of the tournament. They will face Uzbekistan on April 2, Jordan on April 5, and North Korea on April 8.

The national team will leave for Hainan, China, through Incheon International Airport on the 14th, train until the 25th, and then move to Bangkok, the site of the showdown on the 26th.

The AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, which is held every two years, has previously been participated by eight countries, but since this tournament, it has been changed to a 12-nation participation system. After the group stage is divided into three groups of four countries, a total of eight teams will decide the winner with the tournament by adding the top two teams among the third place to the six teams ranked first and second in each group.

The tournament will also be held in Poland in September for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Asian qualifiers, with the top four countries qualifying for the World Cup.

Korea has won the competition twice (2004 and 2013). Most recently, he finished fourth at the 2024 Uzbekistan Games.

Two overseas defenders, Nam Seung-eun (Alex Niigata, Japan) and Oh Dan-bi (UNSW FC, Australia), were included on the Korean national team list. Nam Seung-eun was selected for the U-20 Women's World Cup two years ago at the age of 18 and joined Albirex early last year.

Oh Dan-bi is a mixed-race athlete (Katia Clement in English) whose mother is Korean. He currently resides in Sydney, Australia and signed with UNSW FC this year. UNSW is a club team based at the university of new south Wales in Australia, with the women's team participating in the top state league, NPL NSW. Odanbi was invited to Australia's off-season training for the women's U-20 team last year and participated in training and practice matches.

Except for Nam Seung-eun and Oh Dan-bi, who play for the club, the rest are players who play for college (19) and high school (2).

The two high school students are goalkeeper Kim Chae-bin (Gwangyang Girls' High School) and midfielder Kim Min-seo (Ulsan Hyundai High School). Kim Chae-bin was born in 2008 and Kim Min-seo was born in 2009.

The national team will be led by coach Park Yoon-jung. Coach Park was appointed as the head coach of the women's U-20 national team in July last year and served consecutive terms. Park was recognized for his leadership by advancing his team to the round of 16 at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia in 2024. He also received the 2023 AFC Leader of the Year Award. He has both experience and leadership throughout the national team by age, including the women's A team coach.

The women's U-20 national team won all three games in the U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualifying round in Laos in August last year and qualified for the Asian Cup as No. 1 in the group.

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*This content was translated by AI.

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