North Korea's women's soccer team 'shocked out' of the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup... 1–2 defeat to host Australia

*This content was translated by AI.

The North Korean women's national soccer team, the "winner" who played in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup for the first time in 16 years, was eliminated from the quarterfinals.

North Korea lost to host Australia 1-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup at the Rectangual Stadium in Perth, Australia on the 13th (Korea time).

North Korea, ranked ninth in the FIFA rankings, is the second highest in Asia, but failed to win the tournament after losing to Australia, ranked 15th overall and third in Asia.

North Korea, which is classified as the strongest team in Asia along with Japan (8th in FIFA ranking), has participated in four tournaments in 16 years since the 2010 tournament.

In the 2014 tournament, he was suspended for the banned substance scandal, and in 2018, he held a preliminary round in Pyongyang but failed to advance to the finals due to South Korea. In the 2022 tournament, he withdrew in the aftermath of COVID-19.

North Korea, which played in the tournament for the first time in 16 years, earlier defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 and Bangladesh 5-0. In the process, he attempted as many as 59 shots and allowed only one shot.

However, North Korea lost to China 1-2 in the final Group B match and fell to second place in the group, and was eliminated in the quarterfinals that day, being held back by Australia.

On this day, North Korea lost the first goal to Alana Kennedy in the 9th minute of the first half and then to Samker in the 2nd minute of the second half.

After narrowing the gap with Chae Eun-young's chasing goal in the 20th minute of the second half, North Korea went on a full offensive, but lost 1-2 and bowed its head without balance, with a strong mid-range shot blocked by the goalkeeper.

On this day, North Korea was far ahead of the ball possession rate by 61.9%-38.1%, and in the number of shots, it was 21-4 and suffered a bitter taste of defeat. The shot to the inside of the goal was 10-2, with North Korea making just one of 10 while Australia's two shots shook the net.

Australia will shake off the disappointment of being eliminated from the quarterfinals at the 2022 tournament and reach the semifinals for the first time in eight years and two tournaments since the 2018 tournament to compete with the winning team in the China-Taiwan match to advance to the final.

However, North Korea will not go home as it is, but will clash with the losing team in the China-Taiwan match in the playoff between the teams that eliminated the quarterfinals.

In this tournament, a total of six teams, including the semifinals of the tournament and two playoff winning teams, will qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in Brazil next year.

Teams that are eliminated from the playoffs will continue to compete for the World Cup finals through intercontinental playoffs.

Meanwhile, South Korea, led by head coach Shin Sang-woo, will play Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, at 6 p.m. on the 14th. If he wins, he will compete with the winning team of the Japan-Philippines match to advance to the finals of the tournament.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.