Yang Min-hyuk won the ball back, and Eom Ji-sung’s goal gave Korea a fourth straight Asian Games gold against Japan
South Korea beat hosts Japan 1-0 at Toyota Stadium to become the first side to win four Asian Games men’s football titles in a row.
Oct 3, 2026
South Korea have won the Asian Games men’s football title for a fourth time in a row. Eom Ji-sung scored the only goal of the final against Japan at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, a quarter of an hour into the second half, and no side had ever won four straight golds in the men’s event before.
It was also the third Asian Games final in a row between the two countries, and Korea have won all three. Japan lost the 2018 final 2-1 after extra time and the Hangzhou final 2-1. This one was tighter than either.
Yang wins it back, Eom finishes
The first half finished goalless, and for long spells after the break Japan were the side asking the questions. Yumeki Yokoyama shot wide early in the second half, a Japanese corner had to be blocked away soon afterwards, and captain Rion Ichihara sent a header wide.
The goal came out of nothing much. Yang Min-hyuk kept pressing his man down the right until he won the ball back, then crossed. Eom took it under control inside the box, beat the defender in front of him and finished. Korea then held on through the rest of the half in front of a mostly Japanese crowd.
Eom was one of Korea’s over-age players, and this was not his first big contribution in Aichi. He scored a hat-trick against Qatar in the group stage and crossed for Bae Jun-ho’s headed winner in the 2-1 semi-final against China.
A week of complaints, a gold at the end
Lee Min-sung’s side did not have the easiest build-up. Their training session at Toyota Stadium on Friday was called off because of the state of the pitch, and a request to train somewhere else was turned down. Captain Lee Ki-hyuk had missed the semi-final with inflammation in his foot. He was fit to start on Saturday and was replaced by Hwang Do-yoon shortly before the goal.
Japan had their chances. Go Oiwa picked an under-21 squad with no over-age players, with the 2028 Olympics in mind, and they needed 120 minutes and a 9-8 shootout to get past Uzbekistan in the semi-final. They gave Korea a proper game regardless. But they have now lost three straight Asian Games finals to the same opponent, and their wait for a men’s gold goes on.
For the Korean players there is more riding on it than a medal. Asian Games gold spares Korean players the 18 to 21 months of military service every able-bodied man otherwise has to do, and that for a young player trying to build a career in Europe can be the difference between staying abroad and losing close to two years of football.