It is said that South Korea's U-23 men's national football team has secured a spot in the knockout stage after playing only one group stage match at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Saudi Arabia defeated Qatar 2-0 in the men's football Group D match held at Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on the 18th, securing both Korea and Saudi Arabia one win and three points. On the other hand, Qatar, having lost consecutively to Korea and Saudi Arabia, finished all group stage matches with two losses and zero points, confirming their elimination. Since the top two teams advance to the quarterfinals, Korea and Saudi Arabia will play on the 22nd . With the final match remaining, Qatar lost both matches, naturally securing both teams to advance to the quarterfinals,,, ,,, Group D was the only one of the three teams in this tournament, and this unique schedule was created because Iraq withdrew just before the tournament began. Originally, 16 countries were scheduled to participate in men's football, but with Iraq excluded, the number was reduced to 15. As a result, the 15 teams were split into four groups, with only Group D featuring Korea and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the other two teams were set up, so each team would play only two matches. Naturally, the nature of the upcoming match between Korea and Saudi Arabia scheduled for the 22nd has changed—it's not a survival battle where a loss could mean elimination, but rather a match for first place in Group D. That doesn't mean the importance of the match against Saudi Arabia is any less. The Group D winner will face the second-place team from Group C in the quarterfinals, and the second-place team will face the Group C winner. Group C includes Uzbekistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Kuwait, so with future matchups competing, attention is focused on the final match results.
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