The South Korea national under-20 football team (Korean: 대한민국 20세 이하 축구 국가대표팀; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in international youth football competitions and also can be managed as under-18 or under-19 team if necessary. South Korean under-20 team won twelve AFC U-20 Asian Cup (AFC Youth Championship) titles and reached the FIFA U-20 World Cup final once, both are the most successful results among Asian teams.
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Nickname(s) | Taegeuk Warriors The Red Devils Tiger of Asia | ||
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Association | Korea Football Association | ||
Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
Sub-confederation | EAFF (East Asia) | ||
Head coach | Kim Eun-jung | ||
FIFA code | KOR | ||
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First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Kuala Lumpur, Malaya; 19 April 1959) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 6 November 2007) | |||
FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
Appearances | 15 (first in 1979) | ||
Best result | Runners-up (2019) | ||
AFC U-20 Asian Cup | |||
Appearances | 38 (first in 1959) | ||
Best result | Champions (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012) |
Having finished the qualifying tournament as third place, South Korea under-19 could not originally play the final stage in the 1982 AFC Youth Championship. However, the North Korean FA was punished with a two-year suspension for assaulting a referee at the 1982 Asian Games by the Asian Football Confederation, so South Korea fortunately advanced to the final stage instead of North Korea, the runners-up.[1] Then they qualified for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship, after winning the championship. The manager Park Jong-hwan trained his team with tactics which demanded a lot of stamina and extreme teamwork for World Youth Championship.[2]
Drawn in a group with Scotland, Australia and the host Mexico, South Korea lost their first game against Scotland, but they advanced to the knockout stage by defeating the other two teams. In the quarter-finals, they faced Uruguay, and won the game 2–1 with a forward Shin Yon-ho's two goals after extra time. The news that they reached the semi-finals for the first time in a FIFA competition became a myth in South Korea,[3] a weak country in sports at that time, although it was a youth competition. The foreign press were also interested in South Korean team's achievement, describing it as the "Red Fury".[4][5] South Korea finished the tournament in fourth place after losing to Brazil and Poland,[6] and a South Korean defender Kim Pan-keun was named in official All-Star Team.[7]
The Inter-Korean Sports Conferences were held on the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee since 1963, but the conferences always broke down until the 1980s because both sides had not seen eye to eye. In February 1991, however, they decided to make Korean unified teams in table tennis and football.[8] In that same year, both South and North qualified for the FIFA World Youth Championship as winners and runners-up of the 1990 AFC Youth Championship, so they urgently made allied under-20 football team for the world championship despite concerns about communication and teamwork.[9] Their challenge was ended in the quarter-finals.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
29 March Friendly | South Korea ![]() | 5–1 | ![]() | Daegu, South Korea |
19:00 UTC+9 |
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Stadium: DGB Daegu Bank Park Attendance: 1,195 Referee: Chae Sang-hyeop (South Korea) |
19 April Friendly | Vietnam ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Phú Thọ, Vietnam |
17:00 UTC+7 |
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Stadium: Việt Trì Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Nguyễn Mạnh Hải (Vietnam) |
22 April Friendly | Vietnam ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Hanoi, Vietnam |
17:00 UTC+7 |
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Stadium: Hàng Đẫy Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Nguyễn Mạnh Hải (Vietnam) |
10 June U-20 Lisbon Tournament | South Korea ![]() | 1–5 | ![]() | Lisbon, Portugal |
18:00 UTC+1 |
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Stadium: Estádio Nacional Attendance: 0 Referee: Miguel Fonseca (Portugal) |
12 June U-20 Lisbon Tournament | South Korea ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() | Lisbon, Portugal |
11:00 UTC+1 |
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Stadium: Estádio Nacional Attendance: 0 Referee: Márcio Torres (Portugal) |
14 June U-20 Lisbon Tournament | South Korea ![]() | 3–2 | ![]() | Lisbon, Portugal |
11:00 UTC+1 |
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Stadium: Estádio Nacional Attendance: 0 Referee: Diogo Gonçalves (Portugal) |
4 August Training match | South Korea ![]() | 6–0 | ![]() | Paju, South Korea |
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Report (KFA) | Stadium: Paju National Football Center Attendance: 0 |
14 September 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification | South Korea ![]() | 6–0 | ![]() | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia |
12:30 UTC+8 |
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Report | Stadium: MFF Football Centre Attendance: 177 Referee: Hiroki Kasahara (Japan) |
16 September 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification | Mongolia ![]() | 0–7 | ![]() | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia |
12:30 UTC+8 | Report |
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Stadium: MFF Football Centre Attendance: 1,284 Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia) |
18 September 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification | South Korea ![]() | 6–2 | ![]() | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia |
12:30 UTC+8 |
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Report |
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Stadium: MFF Football Centre Attendance: 142 Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran) |
5 October Friendly | South Korea ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
11:00 (UST +5) |
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Stadium: Lokomotiv Stadium Attendance: 594 Referee: Asker Najafaliyev (Uzbekistan) |
8 October Friendly | Uzbekistan ![]() | 2–3 | ![]() | Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
15:00 (UST +5) |
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Stadium: JAR Stadium Attendance: 150 Referee: Rustam Lutfullin (Uzbekistan) |
Position | Coach |
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Manager | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeping coach | ![]() |
Fitness coach | ![]() |
The following under-19 players were called-up for friendly matches against Uzbekistan on 5 and 8 November 2022. [10]
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club | ||
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1GK | Lee Seung-hwan | (2003-04-05) 5 April 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
1GK | Moon Hyun-ho | (2003-05-13) 13 May 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
1GK | Kim Jun-hong | (2003-06-03) 3 June 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Lee Chan-wook | (2003-02-03) 3 February 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Park Chang-woo | (2003-03-01) 1 March 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Hwang In-taek | (2003-04-01) 1 April 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Park Jun-young | (2003-06-18) 18 June 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Lee Jun-jae | (2003-07-14) 14 July 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Choi Ye-hoon | (2003-08-19) 19 August 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Bae Seo-joon | (2003-12-11) 11 December 2003 (age 18) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Lee Gyu-baek | (2004-02-10) 10 February 2004 (age 18) | ![]() | |||
2DF | Jo Yeong-kwang | (2004-03-11) 11 March 2004 (age 18) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Kim Hee-seung | (2003-01-19) 19 January 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Lee Seung-won | (2003-03-06) 6 March 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Kim Gyeong-hwan | (2003-04-08) 8 April 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Park Hyeon-bin | (2003-05-19) 19 May 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Park Seung-ho | (2003-09-01) 1 September 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
3MF | Kang Sang-yoon | (2004-05-31) 31 May 2004 (age 18) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Kang Seong-jin | (2003-03-26) 26 March 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Kang Min-jae | (2003-05-14) 14 May 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Kim Yong-hak | (2003-05-20) 20 May 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Lee Young-jun | (2003-05-23) 23 May 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Bae Jun-ho | (2003-08-21) 21 August 2003 (age 19) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Lee Jun-sang | (2003-11-19) 19 November 2003 (age 18) | ![]() | |||
4FW | Jeong Jae-sang | (2004-05-25) 25 May 2004 (age 18) | ![]() |
FIFA U-20 World Cup record | ||||||||
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Year | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad |
as ![]() | ||||||||
![]() | Did not enter | |||||||
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Squad |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | Squad |
![]() | Fourth place | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | Squad |
![]() | Did not qualify | |||||||
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as ![]() | ||||||||
![]() | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | Squad |
as ![]() | ||||||||
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | Squad |
![]() | Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 14 | Squad |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | Squad |
![]() | Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Squad |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | Squad |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | Squad |
![]() | Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | Squad |
![]() | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Squad |
![]() | Quarter-finals | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 8 | Squad |
![]() | Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | Round of 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | Squad |
![]() | Runners-up | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | Squad |
![]() | To be determined | |||||||
Total | Runners-up | 60 | 19 | 14 | 27 | 75 | 94 | — |
AFC U-20 Asian Cup record | ||||||||||||||
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Year | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||||||
![]() | Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | |||||||
![]() | Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | |||||||
![]() | Fourth place | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | |||||||
![]() | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 2 | |||||||
![]() | Champions | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | |||||||
![]() | Fourth place | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | |||||||
![]() | Group stage | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||
![]() | Quarter-finals | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |||||||
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | |||||||
![]() | Third place | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 4 | |||||||
![]() | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | |||||||
![]() | Third place | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 3 | |||||||
![]() | Runners-up | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | |||||||
![]() | Runners-up | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | |||||||
![]() | Third place | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||||||
![]() | Third place | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | |||||||
![]() | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
![]() | Third place | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | |||||||
![]() | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Qualification record[11] | ||||||
![]() | Champions | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 3 | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
![]() | Champions | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 4 | |
![]() | Champions | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 9 | |
![]() | Did not qualify | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |||||||
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
![]() | Champions | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
![]() | Runners-up | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
![]() | Group stage | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
![]() | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | Qualified as host | ||||||
![]() | Champions | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
![]() | Group stage | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3 | |
![]() | Champions | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
![]() | Champions | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
![]() | Third place | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
![]() | Semi-finals | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
![]() | Semi-finals | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 3 | |
![]() | Champions | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 1 | |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4 | |
![]() | Group stage | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 4 | |
![]() | Runners-up | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
![]() | Cancelled | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |||||||
![]() | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | 12 titles | 185 | 109 | 44 | 32 | 367 | 149 | 69 | 60 | 3 | 6 | 376 | 38 |
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General | |
Records and statistics |
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Rivalries |
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Culture |
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Other KFA teams | |
FIFA World Cups |
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AFC Asian Cups |
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AFC U-20 Asian Cup winners | |
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Korea Football Association | |||||||
National teams |
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League system |
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Cup competitions |
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Other competitions |
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Lists | |||||||
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National under-20 football teams of Asia (AFC) | |
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AFC U-20 Asian Cup | |
West Asia (WAFF) |
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Central Asia (CAFA) |
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South Asia (SAFF) | |
East Asia (EAFF) | |
Southeast Asia (AFF) | |
1 Not a member of FIFA |