North Korea will challenge for its third FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup title against Japan.
The North Korean U-20 women’s national soccer team won 1-0 against the United States in the semifinals held at the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia on the 19th. In the 22nd minute of the first half, Choi Il-seon received the ball outside the right side of the opponent’s penalty box, took two touches, and then scored with a powerful left-footed shot into the opponent’s goal.
FIFA said on this day, “North Korea, which showed itself as a championship contender from the first match of this tournament, overwhelmed the United States and advanced to the finals,” and “North Korea pressed the United States hard throughout the 90 minutes, and it is regrettable that they did not win by a bigger margin in that match.”
The opponent North Korea will face in the final is Japan. Japan also advanced to the final after defeating the Netherlands 2-0 in the semifinal held on the same day with a multi-goal from Manaka Matsukubo. This is the second time that two Asian teams have met in the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup since North Korea and China in 2006, and the first time in 18 years. At that time, North Korea won and took home its first ever championship, but Japan is also considered a strong team and a candidate to win this tournament, so it is not easy to predict its victory.
In fact, North Korea and Japan did not lose a single match from the group stage to the semifinals. North Korea beat Brazil and the United States, considered the strongest teams in North and Central America, to reach the finals, while Japan also defeated Spain and the Netherlands, both European powerhouses, in succession.
FIFA said, “North Korea won 14 of the 16 matches they played in the U-20 Women’s World Cup finals, and kept a clean sheet in their last five matches,” and “Japan is also a strong team, having won seven of their last nine matches.”
Both teams have a ‘striker’ in common. North Korea’s Choi Il-seon, who scored the winning goal in the semifinals, is tied for the top scorer in this tournament with 5 goals. Japan also scored 4 goals in the group stage alone, with Hijikata Maya scoring 5 goals.
However, North Korea is slightly ahead in the number of wins and final appearances. North Korea has previously advanced to the finals three times, winning twice in 2006 and 2016. They were runners-up in 2008. Japan has won once (2018), but has the advantage of having advanced to the finals in three consecutive recent competitions. Starting with its first win in 2018, Japan has advanced to the finals in 2022 and this competition. The 2020 competition was canceled due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The final between the two teams will be held at 6 a.m. on the 23rd, Korean time.
Reporter Kim Jeong-hun [email protected]
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2024-09-20 19:57:29