South Korea’s U17 team faced a tough match against Saudi Arabia. The Koreans struck first.
Saudi Arabia overcame South Korea (Photo: AFC).
In the 46th minute, Oh Ha Ram received a pass from a teammate. His initial shot was blocked by goalkeeper Al Otaibi. However, Oh Ha Ram quickly followed up with a shot to give South Korea a 1-0 lead.
This goal made the remainder of the match incredibly exciting. When the crowd expected a Korean victory, Saudi Arabia surprisingly equalized in added time.
In the 10th minute of added time in the second half, Saudi Arabia was awarded a penalty. Abubaker Saeed successfully converted the penalty, drawing Saudi Arabia level at 1-1.
The match ended in a draw, forcing a penalty shootout to determine the winner. This was South Korea’s second consecutive penalty shootout at the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup.
Uzbekistan decisively defeated North Korea (Photo: AFC).
Despite a previous match against Tajikistan in the quarterfinals, South Korea lost 1-3 to Saudi Arabia in the penalty shootout, meaning they missed out on a spot in the final.
Uzbekistan will play against Saudi Arabia in the final. In the other semifinal, the Central Asian team comfortably defeated North Korea 3-0.
Sadriddin Khasanov opened the scoring for Uzbekistan in the 31st minute. The Central Asian team continued to dominate in the second half.
Uzbekistan added two more goals in the 63rd and 66th minutes, scored by Jamshidbek Rustamov, securing a 3-0 victory.
North Korea played with ten men from the 40th minute, after Kang Myong Bom received his second yellow card and was sent off.
The AFC U17 Asian Cup final between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia will be held at King Fahd Stadium in Taif, Saudi Arabia at 10 PM (local time) on April 20th.
