Vietnam beat South Korea on penalties in January, and the two meet again in the Asian Games quarter-finals
South Korea are chasing a fourth straight Asian Games men’s football gold, and Vietnam stand in the way in Nagoya at 4pm IST.
Sep 25, 2026
South Korea have won the last three Asian Games men’s football titles, in Incheon, Jakarta-Palembang and Hangzhou. To keep that run going in Japan, they first have to get past a side that beat them in January. South Korea play Vietnam in the quarter-finals at Mizuho Park Rugby Stadium in Nagoya today, 25 September, with kick-off at 7.30pm local time (4pm IST).
The January shootout
The last time these two under-23 sides met was the third-place play-off at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in January. It finished 2-2 after extra time, South Korea needing a stoppage-time equaliser from Shin Min-ha to get that far, and Vietnam won the shootout 7-6. VnExpress counts it as Vietnam’s first win over South Korea at under-23 level or above, and notes that South Korea had won all three of their previous Asian Games meetings.
South Korea coach Lee Min-sung was blunt after the group stage. Good performances are one thing, he said, as reported by Star News, but from now on it is all about results.
How they got here
South Korea topped Group D, one of the smaller groups in a 15-team tournament, with two wins from two. They beat Qatar 4-1 on 15 September and then Saudi Arabia 2-0 on 22 September, with Shin Min-ha and Kim Myung-jun both scoring headers two minutes apart early in the second half. Finishing first kept them away from Japan and Uzbekistan in this round.
Vietnam scraped through as runners-up in Group C. They drew 1-1 with Kuwait, beat the Philippines 2-0 and then lost 2-0 to Uzbekistan, who won all three of their games. Four points was enough.
A different Vietnam
This is not the side that won in January. Kim Sang-sik, the South Korean who coaches both Vietnam’s senior team and their under-23s, is not running this one. He is with the senior team, and Dinh Hong Vinh is in charge on an interim basis. Nguyen Dinh Bac, who scored against South Korea in January, is not in the squad either, and VnExpress counts roughly half the roster as changed from Vietnam’s previous tournament.
On paper that makes South Korea favourites, but Vietnam have already beaten them once this year.
What comes next
The winner plays China or Thailand, who meet in the quarter-finals on Saturday, in the semi-final on 30 September. The gold medal match is on 3 October. India are not in the men’s tournament this time.