South Korea’s U-19 men’s national soccer team won the first match of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup qualifying round against Kuwait.
The Korean national team, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, won 3-0 in the first Group C match of the tournament at Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium in Kuwait on the 24th (Korea time).
This competition is a qualifying stage for the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup finals in China in February next year.
At the AFC U-20 Asian Cup, where 16 teams participate, the first-to-fourth-ranked teams will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
South Korea faced Kuwait with a 4-2-3-1 tactic.
Kim Gyeol (Seoul E-Land) played as a one-top striker, while Jin Joon-seo (Gangwon) and Yoon Do-young (Daejeon) were placed on the side wings to lead the attack.
Kim Tae-won (Portimonens) is in charge of the offensive midfielder, while Son Seung-min (Daegu FC) and Kim Ho-jin (Yongin University) are deployed as central midfielders.
The four-back consisted of Kim Seo-jin (Cheonan), Shin Min-ha (Gangwon), Kang Min-woo (Ulsan), and Bae Hyun-seo (Seoul), while the goalkeeper’s gloves were worn by Gong Si-hyun (Jeonbuk).
South Korea, which took the lead and continued its attack from the beginning of the first half, scored two goals in the extra time of the first half alone.
Kim Tae-won scored with a right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area in the first half of the extra time, and four minutes later, Kim Ho-jin’s free kick to the gate passed all the opposing defenders and was sucked into the net.
In the 26th minute of the second half, Korea ended the 3-0 victory with Jin Joon-seo scoring a header from a free kick kicked by Lee Chang-woo from the left side.
South Korea will play its second game against the North Mariana Islands on Saturday.
South Korea will compete with Kuwait, the North Mariana Islands, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon in the group stage. 스포츠토토
The preliminary round, which will involve 45 teams, will be divided into five groups of four teams and five groups of five teams.
Sixteen teams will compete in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup finals, including 10 first-place teams in each group, five teams with good performance among the second-place teams, and China, the host of next year’s finals.