The match between U17 Korea and U17 Japan is considered the dream final of the 2023 AFC U17 Championship. While U17 Korea wants to end its 22-year title drought, U17 Japan aims to increase its record of winning the most championships in this tournament.

U17 Korea and U17 Japan (in blue) both aim to win the 2023 AFC U17 Championship. Photo: Twitter Rio

Due to the extremely important nature of the match, neither the U17 Korea nor the U17 Japan team dared to risk attacking from the start. It was not until midway through the first half that the two teams began to have their own good scoring opportunities.

However, the turning point of the match came in the last minute of the first half when Ko Jong-hyun of U17 Korea received his second yellow card of the match. Also from a free kick situation right after that, Gaku Nawata (shirt number 14) finished beautifully, defeating goalkeeper Hong Seong-min to open the score for U17 Japan (minute 45+1).

Gaku Nawata contributed a double to Japan U17's victory in the final of the 2023 AFC U17 Championship. Photo: Twitter Rio

In the second half, with the advantage of having more players, Japan U17 pressed the field comprehensively and did not hide their intention to find more goals because they understood that the 1-goal gap was still very fragile.

Finally, the attacking efforts of the representative of the land of the rising sun were rewarded. In the 67th minute, Gaku Nawata broke the offside trap of U17 Korea and finished delicately past goalkeeper Hong Seong-min, doubling the gap for U17 Japan.

In the 74th minute, in a situation of attacking from the left wing, Gaku Nawata unfortunately fired a shot that went over the crossbar.

Japan U17 played more aggressively and effectively for most of the final match. Photo: Twitter Rio

In the 84th minute, during a counterattack by U17 Korea, Japan U17 goalkeeper Goto came out to block and seemed to commit a clear foul on U17 Korea striker Kim Myeong-jun. However, referee Mongkolchai Pechsri did not call the foul. Fans and coaching staff of U17 Korea reacted strongly but could not change the referee's decision.

Even in the 90+6 minute, Japan U17 still scored another goal. Accordingly, Michiwaki broke the offside trap of Korea U17 and then shot into the opponent's net from the near corner to increase the score for Japan U17.

In the end, Japan U17 won convincingly 3-0 against Korea U17 to win the 2023 AFC U17 Championship. Notably, this is also the 4th time Japanese football has won the title within the framework of this tournament.

Thai Ha