'Eom Ji-sung's Single Strike' Lee Min-sung's team defeats Japan 1-0 for undefeated championship... 6th career gold medal

[News & Book = Reporter Song Yeong-du] The South Korea U-23 national football team, led by coach Lee Min-sung, defeated arch-rival Japan to achieve their fourth consecutive gold medal in men's football at the Asian Games.

In the men's football final of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games held at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 3rd, the South Korean national team defeated Japan 1-0, powered by Eom Ji-sung's winning goal.

With this, South Korea achieved four consecutive titles following the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta–Palembang, and 2023 Hangzhou tournaments. Notably, after defeating Japan in all three recent tournament finals, they achieved the feat of securing the championship on Japan's home turf.

South Korea faced the match with a 4-2-3-1 formation, placing Lee Young-jun at the front. After finishing the first half 0-0, South Korea overcame a crisis by repelling Japan's offensive early in the second half.

The decisive winning goal came in the 16th minute of the second half. When a cross sent by Yang Min-hyuk from the right flank hit the Japanese goalkeeper's hands and spilled out, Eom Ji-sung caught it, deceived the defender, and shook the net with a left-footed shot.

After scoring the opening goal, South Korea maintained their one-point lead by repelling Japan's late-game offensive through goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong's defense and the concentration of the defensive line.

South Korea concluded the tournament with five consecutive wins (13 goals scored, 2 goals conceded) from the group stage to the final. Eom Ji-sung, who decorated the beginning and end of the tournament with winning goals, led the attack throughout the competition and became the primary contributor to the four-consecutive-titles achievement.