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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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Little Taegeuk Warriors made a dramatic advance to the round of 16 with wild cards.
South Korea's U-20 national team, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, beat Panama 2-1 in the third Group B match of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup at Elias Figueroa Brander Stadium in Valpaira, Chile on the 5th (Korea time). South Korea, which led by Kim Hyun-min (Busan I'Park) in the 24th minute of the first half, allowed an equalizer in the 7th minute of the second half, but Shin Min-ha (Gangwon FC) scored the winning goal in the 13th minute to report his first win of the tournament.
South Korea, which had one win, one draw and one loss, finished the group stage in third place with four points. At the same time, the goal difference was the same with Paraguay (4 points), the second-place team, which lost 1-2 to Ukraine, but was pushed back in multiple points. In this tournament, 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams, and four teams with good performance among the first, second and third-place teams in each group will win the round of 16. He succeeded in winning the match against Panama, which he had to catch unconditionally, and saved his hopes of advancing to the round of 16.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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Spain saved Korea. Spain is Santiago Farada, Chile, on the 5thThey won the final Group C match against Brazil 1-0 at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez in North. Spain ranked third in Group C with the victory. South Korea had four points alongside Spain, but was ahead on goal difference. Korea was 0 and Spain was -1. Although the final matches of Group D, E, and F have not been played yet, Korea (score 4) is in the lead among the six teams ranked third in each group, beating Spain (score 4), South Africa in Group E, Nigeria in Group F (more than two games, three points), Egypt in Group A (score 3), and Cuba in Group D (score 1). Even if Cuba, South Africa, and Nigeria, which have played only two games, win the final match, they can secure at least four places among the third-place teams in each group, confirming their advance to the round of 16.
As a result, Korea experienced the joy of advancing to the round of 16 for four consecutive tournaments, following the 2017 tournament (the round of 16), the 2019 tournament (second place), and the 2023 tournament (fourth place). South Korea recently achieved stellar performance and qualified for the top seed for the first time in this competition. Lee Chang-won-ho succeeded in advancing to the round of 16, setting a bridgehead for advancing to the semifinals. Coach Lee Chang-won left the country and said, `We must pass the preliminary round unconditionally. With luck, we'll be able to go to the next level."
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| APYonhap News |
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In the round of 16, Korea will meet either Morocco, which finished first in Group C, or Argentina or Italy, which finished first in Group D. If the third-place players in Group A, B, C, and D advance to the round of 16, South Korea will meet Argentina or Italy at 4:30 a.m. on the 9th in Santiago, and in other cases, Morocco will compete with Morocco in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. on the 10th. For now, Morocco is the most likely situation. It's a better match than Argentina or Italy. Coach Lee and coaching staff watched the final Group C match against Morocco and Mexico on the spot to analyze Morocco's power, which is likely to be the opponent of the round of 16.
Manager Lee Chang-won said, `I'm glad I passed the group league. In the round of 16, you'll meet stronger teams, but anything can happen in the tournament"I'll prepare better and hit hard."." Defensive back Bae Hyun-seo (Seoul), who was selected as the Player of the Match in the match against Panama, also said, "I felt that my team became stronger after overcoming difficult matches in the group league." "From now on, I will do everything I can to be with my friends in the same age group for a long time as every game can be my last game."," he said emphatically.
Meanwhile, Brazil was eliminated from the group stage. He was eliminated with one point, with only one draw and two losses. Brazil, which drew 2-2 against Mexico in the first round, lost 1-2 in the second round against Morocco, and lost in the final round, failing to advance to the round of 16.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
