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By Trung Thu  February 23, 2025 | 10:44 pm PT
After the quarterfinal matches at the U20 Asian Cup, four teams Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea have qualified for the 2025 U20 World Cup.
The U20 Asian Cup take place from Feb. 12 to March 1 in Shenzhen, China. 16 teams will compete in a round-robin format, with the top two from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. The four semifinalists automatically qualify for the 2025 U20 World Cup in Chile.
On Sunday, the quarterfinals took place with Japan and South Korea facing tough challenges against Iran and Uzbekistan, respectively, and the results were decided only after penalty shootouts.
Japan fell behind early when Reza Ghandipour scored for Iran in the fifth minute, but Kosei Ogura equalized in the 30th minute. The match remained deadlocked through extra time, leading to a shootout. Iran's Erfan Darvish Aali and Pouria Shahrabadi missed their penalties, while Japan's Niko Takahashi had his shot saved. However, Japan converted their final two attempts to secure a 4-3 victory.
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Japan (blue jersey) beat Iran 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, in the quarterfinal match of the U20 Asian Cup, in Shenzhen, China on Feb. 23, 2025. Photo by AFC |
In the other quarterfinal game, South Korea conceded a penalty in the first minute, but goalkeeper Hong Seong-min denied Muhammadali Urinboyev’s attempt. Uzbekistan still struck first in the 18th minute through Daler Tukhsanov. South Korea responded with a brace from Shin Min-ha (26', 56') and a goal from Kim Tae-won (61'), taking a 3-1 lead.
However, the lack of concentration in stoppage time nearly made them pay. Urinboyev pulled one back in the 90th minute before Abdugafur Khaydarov capitalized on a defensive error to equalize in the 94th. The penalty shootout saw Hong shine again, saving two shots while Uzbekistan missed another. Despite misses from Lee Geon-hee and Shin Min-ha, South Korea converted their remaining attempts to win 3-1.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia edged host China 1-0 with a last-gasp goal from Al-Yuhaybi in stoppage time. Meanwhile, Australia came from behind twice to defeat Iraq 3-2.
The semifinals, set for Feb. 26, will feature South Korea vs. Saudi Arabia and Japan vs. Australia.
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South Korea celebrate their 3-1 win over Uzbekistan in the penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in 120 minutes, at the U20 Asian Cup quarterfinals in Shenzhen, China on Feb. 23, 2025. Photo by KFA |
This marks South Korea's 17th appearance at the U20 World Cup, the most by any Asian nation. Since the tournament's inception in 1977, they have only missed seven editions. Australia follows with 16 appearances, though 12 when they were a member of the Oceania Football Confederation before switching to Asia in 2006. Since then, they qualified in 2009, 2011, and 2013 but missed the last four tournaments.
Japan will compete in the U20 World Cup for the 12th time, having first participated in 1979. They qualified seven times consecutively from 1995 to 2007 and five straight times from 2017 to 2025.
Saudi Arabia will make their 10th appearance.
No Asian team have ever won the U20 World Cup in its 23 editions. South American teams have claimed 12 titles, followed by Europe (10) and Africa (1). Asia's best performances have been three runner-up finishes: Qatar (1981), Japan (1999) and South Korea (2019).
Southeast Asia has had four representatives in the tournament: Indonesia (1979), Malaysia (1997), Myanmar (2015) and Vietnam (2017). Only Vietnam managed to earn a point, while Malaysia was the only Southeast Asian nation to host the event.
