North Korea Claims Victory Over ‘Puppet State’ South Korea in U-20 Women’s Asian Cup

On the 13th, the North Korean women’s football team defeated the South Korean team in the semi-finals of the “2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Women’s Asian Cup”, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and advanced to the finals.

North Korea’s news media outlet, Korean Central News Agency, reported on the 14th, “Our team triumphed 3-0 against the puppet state South Korean team in the semi-final match of the 2024 AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup.”

The news agency announced the first goal: “Our number 15 player opened the goalpost with a precise kick around the 45-minute mark during the match held on the 13th.”

The news agency continued, “Even after entering the second half, our team, which was pressuring the opposing team with intense attacks, scored again with a single kick from our number 7 player around the 51-minute mark, and then our number 14 player shook the opponent’s net again around the 78-minute mark,” announcing consecutive goals.

The news agency reported, “In the end, our players defeated the puppet state South Korean players by a score of 3-0 and advanced to the final stage.”

The North Korean team will compete for the championship against the Japanese team, which made it to the finals by defeating Australia on the 16th. The North Korean team has previously triumphed 1-0 against the Japanese in the group preliminary round.

The South Korean team, which lost to the North Korean team, will also play in the third-place match against the Australian team, which lost to the Japanese team in the semi-finals on the 16th.

In this “2024 AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup” tournament, a total of 8 countries participated, divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each, playing in the group stage. The top 2 teams from each group, a total of 4, are given tickets to the “FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup” to be held in Colombia this coming September.

The South Korean team secured 2nd place in Group A with two wins and a loss, and the North Korean team secured 1st place in Group B with two wins and a draw, so both teams have already secured their spots in the World Cup by making it into the top 4.

This tournament, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, since the 3rd, will continue until the 16th.

Meanwhile, North Korea has twice reached the top in the “FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.” They won their first championship at the 2006 tournament in Russia and again at the 2016 tournament in Papua New Guinea ten years later.