Korea DPR U20

The under-20 side trains and plays under the same federation as the seniors, the DPR Korea Football Association, and shares its ground, the 50,000-capacity Kim Il Sung Stadium, along with the nickname Chollima, after the winged horse of legend.

Three AFC Youth Championship titles, in 1976, 2006 and 2010, sit at the centre of the age-group's record, with two further runner-up finishes in 1990 and 2014.

Kim Kum-il carried the 2006 continental title as its named MVP and later captained the 2007 World Cup squad before graduating to the senior team for the 2010 World Cup. Jang Kuk-chol followed a similar path out of the 2010 age-group champions and went on to captain the senior side for years afterward, one of several players — Ri Kwang-chon and Ri Kwang-hyok among them — for whom the under-20s served as the direct route into the national team proper.

In qualifying for the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, the side topped its group unbeaten, beating Sri Lanka 4-0 and Oman 1-0 and drawing 0-0 with Malaysia, enough to book a place at the finals in China. It is the same route the 1976 and 2006 champions once took to the top of Asian youth football.