South Korea’s Choi Jae-hyuk controls the ball during a match against Uzbekistan on Saturday. (Korea Football Association) The South Korean U17 national soccer team failed to reach the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup.
Led by head coach Kim Hyun-jun, South Korea drew 2-2 with defending champion Uzbekistan, before losing 5-3 in a penalty shootout in their quarterfinal held Saturday at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It is the first time in 10 years that South Korea has failed to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.
South Korea has won the competition twice (1986 and 2002) and finished runner-up three times (2008, 2014 and 2023). The team also reached the semifinals of the previous tournament held in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
Despite the quarterfinal exit, South Korea secured qualification for the FIFA U17 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in November, by reaching the last eight.
South Korea advanced to the quarterfinals as runners-up in Group C with one win and two draws, behind Vietnam, which posted two wins and one loss in the group stage.
Moon Ji-hwan of FC Seoul U18 gave South Korea the lead in the 22nd minute of the first half.
However, a defensive mistake in the 41st minute allowed Akrorbek Ravshanbekov to equalize for Uzbekistan.
Ravshanbekov added another goal during stoppage time, sending Uzbekistan into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
South Korea pressed for an equalizer throughout the second half and finally found one in the 43rd minute, when Ahn Sun-hyun of Pohang Steelers U18 curled a right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty arc into the corner of the net.
Under tournament rules, the match proceeded directly to a penalty shootout without extra time. Uzbekistan converted all five of its spot kicks, while South Korea’s fourth taker, Park Kyung-hoon of Suwon Samsung U18, missed his attempt and the team bowed out of the tournament.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
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