Women's Soccer Qualifies for World Cup Three Times in 12 Years' Victory over Australia

South Korean women's soccer beat strong Australia to reach the semifinals of the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, succeeding in advancing to the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time.

The South Korean national team, led by head coach Colin Bell, won 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the Women's Asian Cup against Australia at Sirisib Chatrapati Stadium in Pune, India, thanks to Ji So-yeon (Chelsea)'s winning goal in the 42nd minute of the second half. It is the first time in about 12 years that South Korea has won the A match against Australia since the Peace Queen Cup (2-1 win) on October 23, 2010. Against Australia, the team had three wins, two draws and 13 losses.

South Korea, which finished second in Group C with two wins and one draw in the group stage, advanced to the semifinals for the first time in eight years since the 2014 tournament (4th place) as it surpassed Australia, which won all three games.

Korea is aiming for its first-ever Asian Cup title in this tournament. In the previous 2018 competition, South Korea ranked fifth, and its best performance ever was third in the 2003 competition. In addition, South Korea will advance to the women's World Cup finals co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2023. In this tournament, teams in the top five (6th place including Australia) will be given tickets to the World Cup finals.

South Korea will now compete against the winner of the Taiwan-Philippines quarterfinals on the 3rd of next month to advance to advance to the finals.

Date: 2022-01-01

Reporter: 정새울