U23 Vietnam breaks multiple records in the history of matches against U23 South Korea

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing Daily, and websites such as sohu.com and 163.com all reported that in the bronze medal match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup held on the night of January 23, Vietnam and South Korea played a very intense game. Vietnam took the lead twice during regular time, but each time the opponent equalized, resulting in a 2-2 draw and forcing extra time. Neither team could change the score in extra time, and ultimately, Vietnam won the third-place position through a penalty shootout.

According to sohu.com, the U23 Asian Cup third-place match between Vietnam and South Korea was truly surprising. Despite having a numerical advantage and being rated higher, the U23 South Korea team could not defeat U23 Vietnam and eventually lost 6-7 in a dramatic penalty shootout.

The article notes that since 2006, U23 South Korea has faced U23 Vietnam 9 times, achieving 6 wins and 3 draws. This match marked South Korea’s first defeat against Vietnam in 23 years, dating back to the 0-1 loss in the 2003 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, 163.com reported that after winning the tense penalty shootout against South Korea, Vietnam secured third place at the AFC U23 Championship, marking Vietnam’s first victory over South Korea in the history of this tournament. This was the third meeting between the two teams at the U23 Asian Cup. In the previous two encounters, U23 South Korea remained unbeaten with one win and one draw.

The article concludes that by defeating South Korea, U23 Vietnam claimed third place at the AFC U23 Championship and set several new records. First, this is Vietnam’s best performance in the tournament since 2018. Second, Vietnam achieved its first win over South Korea in the U23 Asian Cup after failing to win in their previous two meetings. Third, Vietnam broke the “curse” of never defeating South Korea in an official U23 tournament since 1991, having previously recorded only one draw and two losses in the last three matches. Fourth, Vietnam maintained the record of scoring in every official U23 match against South Korea, with 4 goals in the 4 previous encounters. Fifth, Vietnam scored 2 goals in a match against South Korea for the first time since 1991.