“Four European-based players, including Lee Kyung-hyun, join” — South Korea’s U-19 national team to compete consecutively in the November Panda Cup and December SBS Cup... Preparation for the Asian Cup

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The South Korean men’s under-19 (U-19) national football team, led by head coach Kim Jung-soo, will participate in two overseas friendly tournaments to prepare for the main round of the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup.

The Korea Football Association announced on the 29th that the U-19 national team will consecutively participate in the Panda Cup in China and the SBS Cup in Japan.

The Panda Cup will be held from November 11 to 17 at the Shuangliu Sports Center stadium in Chengdu, China. South Korea, along with China, Vietnam, and Tajikistan, will compete in a round-robin format to determine rankings. To prepare for this, the national team will conduct pre-tournament training from November 3 to 7 at Cheonan Korea Football Park with players who have reached agreements with their clubs regarding call-ups.

The 26-player squad list for the Panda Cup includes 20 K League players such as Mo Gyeong-bin (Suwon Samsung), Kim Hyun-oh (Gyeongnam FC), and Kang Dong-hwi (Jeju SK), as well as two university players. Four European-based players will also join, including Lee Kyung-hyun (FC Copenhagen), Bae Seung-gyun (FC Dordrecht), Kim Min-chan (VfL Osnabrück), and Lee Chung-hyun (1. FC Magdeburg).

Subsequently, the national team will compete in the SBS Cup, held from December 17 to 20 in Shizuoka, Japan, where they will face the U-18 national teams of Japan and Costa Rica, as well as a Shizuoka Prefecture select team. As this tournament is conducted at the U-18 level, the squad is planned to be composed primarily of players born in 2008, who are one year younger than the current roster. The participation list will be announced later.

Meanwhile, South Korea secured its spot in the main round by finishing first in its group in the Asian Cup qualifiers last August. If they place among the top four teams at the 2027 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, which opens on March 24 next year in Hangzhou, China, they will earn a berth in the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be co-hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan next year.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original