The Korea national under-20 football team, also known as the Korean unified football team, was the national under-20 team of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

, being a combined representative team representing both

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Their only participation in FIFA-sanctioned tournaments was at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

History

The Inter-Korean Sports Conferences were held on the recommendation of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

since 1963, but the conferences always broke down until the 1980s because both sides had not seen eye to eye. In February 1991, however, they decided to make Korean unified teams in

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and football. In that same year, both South and North qualified for the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

as winners and runners-up of the 1990 AFC Youth Championship, so they urgently made allied under-20 football team for the world championship despite concerns about communication and teamwork. Ten South Korean players and eight North Korean players formed the unified team, and they were managed by North Korean coach

An Se-uk An Se-uk (born 13 March 1948) is a North Korean footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters i ...

. The

Korean Unification Flag The Korean Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when North and South Korea participate as one team in sporting events. History North and South Korea initially planned to compete as one team at the 1990 Asian Games, an ...

, which composed of a blue image of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

over a white background, was the symbol used by the team which competed under the name "Korea". Korea began their World Youth Championship run by playing against favorites Argentina. The only goal of the match was a 30-yard strike goal made by North Korean footballer, Cho In-chol in the 88th minute which secured Korea's only win in the group stage. The Korean team would have lost its group stage match against Ireland but North Korean footballer Choi Chol made an equalizer in the 89th minute. They managed to advance to the knockout stage, although they conceded their last group stage match against hosts and eventual champions Portugal by a solitary goal, However, they suffered their worst defeat in the quarter-final match against Brazil.

Results

Coaching staff

Players

References

External links

{{Defunct national football teams Former national association football teams in Asia 1991 in South Korean football 1991 in North Korean football North Korea–South Korea relations