For the third consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup, South Korea’s soccer team advanced to the round of 16 and continued its strong start to ‘Again in 2019’.

Japan slipped to third place in Group C of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup with a 1-2 loss to 10-man Israel on Sunday (Aug. 28) at the Mendoza Stadium in Argentina, leaving them with three points (one win, two losses).

As a result, South Korea (4 points) has booked a ticket to the Round of 16 as one of the “top four teams in Group 3” even if the worst happens and they lose their Group F match against Gambia (6 points) at the same venue at 6:00 a.m. on June 29.

At the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the round of 16 features the top 12 teams from each of the first two places in groups A through F and the top four teams from the third place in each group.

Of the top three teams to finish the group stage so far, Slovakia in Group B and Japan in Group C are tied on three points, neither of which is enough to overtake South Korea’s three points with one game remaining.

As a result, even if South Korea falls to third place in the group, they will still be among the “top four teams in Group 3” and advance to the Round of 16 regardless of the outcome of their final match against The Gambia on Monday.

South Korea has now reached the round of 16 in three consecutive tournaments, starting with South Korea 2017 (round of 16), Poland 2019 (runner-up) and now Argentina.

Kim Eun-Joong-ho’s “early round of 16” was made possible by the result of the third match of Group C, which featured a series of theater goals.

Japan lost to Israel in stoppage time after being held to a 1-1 draw despite numerical superiority, while Colombia went down 0-1 to Senegal before scoring a late equalizer.

With Colombia (7 points) and Israel (4 points) advancing to the Round of 16 by finishing 1-2, Japan slipped to third place in the group and will have to wait for the third-place wild card.

If not for the theater goals in both matches, South Korea’s qualification would have been delayed until after the Gambia result on Sept. 29.

Kim will now prepare for the final group game against the Gambia with a light heart.

Earlier in the day, Japan took the lead against Israel when Isa Sakamoto scored a header in stoppage time following a free kick in the first half.

After going into halftime 0-1, Israel was forced to play with 10 men in the second half when 16th-minute substitute Ran Binyamin was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in a span of just three minutes in the second 20 minutes. Binyamin was ‘out’ just seven minutes after entering the field.

However, Binyamin’s sending off increased the fighting spirit of the Israelis and they came back from a 10-man deficit to equalize in the 31st minute through a Roy Nabi header.

Israel sank Japan in stoppage time when Omer Senior scored a “theater goal” with his right foot from the edge of the box after a short pass inside the penalty area.

Israel, making its U-20 World Cup debut in this tournament, continued its run to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Japan, which slipped to third place in Group C, is in fifth place among the six nations that finished in the group (the top four advance to the round of 16) with Group E through F playing their final games on Monday, and is in danger of being eliminated at the group stage for the first time in 22 years since the 2001 tournament.메이저사이트

Japan missed the knockout stage for four consecutive tournaments beginning in 2009 before reaching the round of 16 in back-to-back tournaments in 2017 and 2019.

In Group C, Colombia came back from a 1-0 deficit to draw 1-1 with Senegal at the La Plata Stadium thanks to a late Oscar Cortes equalizer in stoppage time.

Senegal would have finished third in the group had they held on for the win, but a theater goal conceded meant they finished last and were eliminated.