Republic of Korea U20 took three points from Lebanon U20 in the opening Group Stage fixture of the AFC U20 Asian Cup on 31 August 2026. The visitors held on for a 3-2 win after Lebanon had taken the lead through J. Kazan in the thirty-sixth minute.
Lebanon thought they had doubled their advantage when M. Saad struck in the eighty-eighth minute, but by then Korea had already carved out enough breathing room. And here's the thing — that late goal came after three Korean goals in quick succession, which made it more theatre than threat.
Republic of Korea came back from the dead after S. Park missed a penalty in the fortieth minute. Kwon Jun-seong replied immediately, then M. Kim added a second before half-time with a forty-fifth-minute strike. That pattern — reacting rather than controlling — defined much of what followed.
H. Lee made it three in the fifty-ninth minute, and Korea were closing in on a comfortable cushion. Lebanon's defence showed resilience but never really settled into a rhythm, even when they had the lead. To be fair, Korea had not played the second half a man up, but they certainly played it with more purpose.
Lebanon's recent form offered little warning of how this would unfold. They had drawn 2-2 with Tajikistan U20 on 24 August, then lost 1-0 in the return fixture. Before that, a 2-1 victory over Syria U20 and a goalless draw had been followed by a 1-2 defeat to Korea U20 in September 2024.
Korea's record was equally mixed. A 1-2 loss to Morocco U20, a 2-1 win over Panama U20, then two draws against Paraguay U20 and Ukraine U20. They had also held Saudi Arabia to 0-0 in February 2025. This result broke a pattern of inconsistency, even if the performance was far from polished.
The win puts Korea ahead on goal difference from Lebanon, though both sides have only played one match. The real story is not the table position — that means nothing with two teams in the same group — but the way Korea found a way back into a game they were losing.