The South Korea national under-20 football team (Korean: 대한민국 20세 이하 축구 국가대표팀; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in international youth football competitions and also can be managed as under-18 or under-19 team if necessary.
The FIFA World Youth Championship was founded in 1977 and the AFC Youth Championship became a qualifying tournament of the World Youth Championship. The top two teams (generally finalists) of the AFC Youth Championship could qualify for the World Youth Championship until 1995.
The number of participating teams in the FIFA World Youth Championship was increased from 16 to 24 in 1997, and four Asian countries, generally the semi-finalists in the AFC Youth Championship, has qualified for the competition since then. The FIFA World Youth Championship was renamed the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007.
Let's delve into South Korea's journey in these prestigious tournaments.
South Korea's U-20 Team: A Historical Overview
South Korea's under-19 team, which finished third in the qualifying tournament, was initially ineligible to play in the final stage of the 1982 AFC Youth Championship. However, the North Korean FA was punished with a two-year suspension for assaulting a referee at the 1982 Asian Games by the Asian Football Confederation, so South Korea advanced to the final stage instead of North Korea, the runners-up.
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After winning the tournament, South Korea qualified for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship as Asian champions. Drawn in a group with Scotland, Australia and the host Mexico, South Korea lost their first game against Scotland, but they advanced to the knockout stage by defeating the other two teams.
In the quarter-finals, they faced Uruguay, and won the game 2-1 with two extra time goals by Shin Yon-ho. The news that they reached the semi-finals for the first time in a FIFA competition became a myth in South Korea, a weak country in sports at the time, although it was a youth competition.
The Inter-Korean Sports Conferences were held on the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee since 1963, but the conferences always broke down until the 1980s because both sides had not seen eye to eye.
Highlights of Nigeria vs S.Korea match, analysis
While the provided text focuses primarily on the history of the South Korea U-20 team and its participation in international tournaments, it lacks specific details about matches or encounters between Nigeria and South Korea at the U-20 level. A more thorough search of historical match data and tournament records would be needed to provide a comprehensive overview of their head-to-head record and significant games.
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