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

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, being a combined representative team representing both

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. 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 FIF ...

History

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

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

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) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

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 when i ...

as winners and runners-up of the

1990 AFC Youth Championship The 1990 AFC Youth Championship was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1990. The tournament was won by for the seventh time by Korea Republic in the final against North Korea. Qualification Qualified teams * (Hosts) * (Group 1 winners) * (Group ...

, 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 Association football, footballer and coach. He represented North Korea in the 1974 Asian Games, 7th Asian Games, the 1978 Asian Games, 8th Asian Games, and the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was also ...

. The

Korean Unification Flag The Korean Unification Flag (), also known as the Flag of the Korean Peninsula ( or ), is a flag used to represent all of Korea. When North Korea and South Korea participate as Unified Korean sporting teams, one team at international sporting e ...

, which composed of a blue image of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

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