WK League News

South Korea’s women last night earned their place in the semi finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, securing a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the process. Having finished top of Group A, the Taegeuk Ladies’ first opponent in the knockout competition was Uzbekistan, who qualified as one of the better performing third-placed teams. In this evening’s quarter final, the South Korean team delivered a decisive victory, beating their opponents 6-0.

Son Hwayeon of WK League side Gangjin Swans scored Korea’s first goal in the ninth minute of the first half to give the side an early lead. Captain Ko Yoojin of Incheon Hyundai doubled the lead just a few minutes minutes later with a fantastic curling shot from just outside the penalty area. The Uzbekistan defence were put under pressure time and time again as the Korean team continued to launch attacking plays.

Manager Shin Sangwoo chose to rest first choice goalkeeper Kim Minjeong, with Sejong Sportstoto’s Ryu Jisoo between the sticks for this match. She didn’t have much to do in the first half, with Uzbekistan only looking threatening once on the counterattack. The score was 2-0 heading into half time.

After the break, with both teams having made a couple of substitutions, the Taegeuk Ladies continued their domination, with AC Milan midfielder Park Soojeong the next to get her name on the score sheet at 57’. The second goal of Park’s international career was followed by a record-extending 75th international goal for Ji Soyun, on her (also record-extending) 174th senior appearance for South Korea.

Now all but certain of their place in the semifinals and at the World Cup, Shin Sangwoo’s squad kept up the pace and effort as the team from Uzbekistan began to visibly suffer from injuries and exhaustion. With very little pressure on South Korea’s defence, manager Shin took the opportunity to give Seoul City goalkeeper Woo Seobin her A match debut, substituting her on at 83’. The change also means that every member of South Korea’s squad has now made at least one appearance at this tournament.

Soon afterwards Lee Eunyoung, who recently transferred to Norwegian side Molde FK after two seasons in the WK League with Changnyeong WFC, made it 5-0 for Korea with just a few minutes of regular time left. The sixth goal was an injury time penalty, converted with ease by Gyeongju KHNP’s Jang Selgi.

Uzbekistan came into this match as underdogs and put up a valiant effort against a confident South Korea, but the result here felt inevitable. Uzbekistan’s tournament isn’t quite over yet — they will play again on Thursday in a play-in match against another quarter final losing side, with the winner earning World Cup qualification.

Meanwhile, Shin Sangwoo and his squad now have a few days to prepare for their semi final match on Wednesday, giving them one more day of recovery time compared to their opponents, the winners of today’s quarter final between Japan and the Philippines. Japan are favourites to win not only this match but the whole tournament, meaning a Korea-Japan semi final clash is highly likely. A rivalry that extends far beyond football, matches between the two countries are always hotly contested, and the last time the sides met, at the East Asian Cup, the match finished in a draw.

However, if the Filipinas do manage to pull off a major upset this afternoon, we could see a repeat of the 2022 semi final between South Korea and the Philippines. The two sides have already met once in the group stage of this tournament, with South Korea winning 3-0. The other semi final will take place on Tuesday and sees hosts Australia take on reigning champions China. Australia beat North Korea 2-1 in their quarter final, while China edged a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in a match that went to extra time after a goalless 90 minutes. China will be missing key player Wang Shuang when they take on the Matildas, as she will sit the match out due to accumulated yellow cards.