Group B of the U23 Asian Cup will be held as a tournament for the 1st and 2nd place teams from 4 groups.
“We were in a difficult group, but we will go to the Olympics.”
Korean soccer's path to advancing to the Olympics for the 10th consecutive Olympic Games has become difficult. They were part of the toughest group in the competition that qualified them for the finals.
Korea belonged to Group B along with Japan, China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the '2024 U-23 Asian Cup' draw held in Doha, Qatar on the 23rd. This competition also serves as the final qualifier for the Asian region for next year's Paris Olympics. Korea was eliminated in the quarterfinals of this tournament last year and did not receive the top seed in this group draw. Korea, included in Pot 2, placed third in last year's tournament and was placed in the same group as Japan, the top seed. Last year, Korea lost 0-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals of this tournament and failed to advance to the semifinals. When the results of the group draw came out that day, Japanese media also reported that their national team was included in the 'Group of Death' along with Korea.
16 countries will participate in this competition, and only those ranked in the top three will receive a ticket to the Olympic finals. The fourth-place team must win an intercontinental playoff against an African country to advance to the Olympics. Four countries are divided into four groups and play group matches, and the first and second place winners from each group advance to the quarterfinals and then play a tournament to determine the winning team. If Korea passes the group stage, it will compete with Group A for first or second place to advance to the semifinals. Group A included Qatar, the host country, Indonesia, Australia, and Jordan under coach Shin Tae-yong. Group C included ‘defending champion’ Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Thailand, and Tajikistan. Group D included Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Kuwait, and Malaysia.
Olympic team coach Hwang Seon-hong (pictured) said, “I don’t think there are any easy opponents among the teams participating in the competition, but among them, we faced teams that were difficult to let down their guard as they were in a difficult group. There may be a difficult process, but of course the goal is to participate in the Olympics for the 10th consecutive time.” South Korea won the competition in 2020.
The U-23 Asian Cup will be held from April 15 to May 3 next year. 19가이드03