South Korea’s national women’s football team returned from the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games with the bronze medal after defeating China last Friday. Gyeongju KHNP defender Noh Jinyoung scored the only goal of the match.
Wins against Myanmar and Bangladesh and a draw with North Korea saw Shin Sangwoo’s side finish second in their group to progress to the quarter-finals, where they came up against Uzbekistan in a call-back to the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup back in March. South Korea won 6-3 to set up a semi-final clash with rivals Japan, whom they have not beaten since 2015.
Despite opportunities for both sides, the score stood at 0-0 at half time, but a second half brace from Japan’s Chiina Kamiya extinguished South Korea’s hopes of gold. Japan went on to play against North Korea in the final, with the match finishing 2-2 after extra time; Japan won the gold medal after a penalty shootout.
The Taegeuk Warriors will have to wait a little longer for victory against Japan, but they were able to put an end to another longstanding jinx as they beat China for the first time in eleven years in the bronze medal match.
Noh Jinyoung scored just a few minutes into the first half, and in the end hers was the only goal of the match. Suwon FC goalkeeper Kim Kyunghee made some excellent saves in the second half to prevent China from equalising.
This was South Korea’s fourth Asian Games bronze medal in women’s football, having been on the podium at three consecutive editions of the competition: in 2010, 2014, and 2018. This was also a fourth bronze for both Ji Soyun and Kim Hyeri. Ji, competing in her sixth Asian Games, was the top goalscorer at the 2010 tournament, at which Kim made her full international debut.
Shin Sangwoo made no secret of the fact that his team was aiming for gold at Aichi-Nagoya. Despite falling short of this target, the manager was upbeat and optimistic upon the team’s return to South Korea, telling reporters that the Asian Games bronze medal will give players confidence as they look ahead to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The 20 WK League players involved in the Asian Games have now returned to their clubs, with many of them in action last night in Round 26.
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