South Korea's U-20 women's national soccer team has qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup for the third consecutive time.
Coached by Park Yoon-jung, South Korea defeated Thailand 2-1 after 120 minutes of extra time in the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup quarterfinals held Sunday at Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani, Thailand. By advancing to the semifinals, South Korea secured a spot in the U-20 World Cup, scheduled for September in Poland. The result also marks the team's third straight appearance at the tournament. The Women's Asian Cup doubles as Asia's qualifying event, with the four semifinalists earning tickets to the World Cup.
South Korea also reached the semifinals of the U-20 Women's Asian Cup for the third straight edition, following tournaments in 2022 in Costa Rica and 2024 in Colombia. The team will face defending champion North Korea in the semifinals on April 15 at the same venue.
South Korea lost 5-0 to North Korea in the Group B match earlier in the tournament and will have an opportunity for revenge. South Korea, which has won the tournament twice (2004, 2013), will play the winner of the China-Japan semifinal in the final on April 18 if it defeats North Korea.
In other quarterfinals, China defeated Uzbekistan 2-1, North Korea beat Australia 3-0, and Japan advanced with a 4-0 win over Vietnam.
The AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, held every two years, expanded from eight to 12 teams beginning with this year's edition. The teams are divided into three groups of four, with the top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams advancing to an eight-team knockout stage. South Korea finished fourth in the most recent tournament, held in Uzbekistan in 2024.
This story was translated from Korean using ChatGPT and edited by Korea Herald staff. — Ed.
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