September 23 – North Korea’s return to international football post-pandemic has been nothing short of spectacular with the defeat of Japan 1-0 in the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup to claim the tournament for a third time.
At the Estadio El Campin in Bogota, Colombia, secured a narrow win against Japan in a repeat of the Asian Cup final. A single goal 15th-minute goal from Choe Il-son was enough to steer the Koreans to gold in a match that they dominated.
Korea’s victory against the 2018 winners did not come as a surprise. Throughout the tournament, they displayed fine form and en route to the final defeated the Netherlands, Brazil, and the United States. North Korea joined the United States and Germany as the only sides to win the competition on three occasions.
“To firstly win the Asian Cup and now follow that with this success means that I’m so proud of the team,” said North Korean manager Ri Song-ho. “We have shown that we are very dangerous in the way that we build up attacks, it’s all about speed and the construction of our attacks.”
Earlier this year, DPR Korea came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup final at the JAR Stadium in Uzbekistan.
AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa praised the success of Asia’s two finalists and said: “Our special praise is reserved for DPR Korea for securing their third title but on this historic day, with all eyes on our great Continent, Asia is the ultimate winner.
“Both teams have now cemented their places as amongst the most successful women’s age-group sides in world football and we must commend both the DPR Korea Football Association and the Japan Football Association for their outstanding commitment to producing world-class youth teams year after year.”
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