Vietnam 2-2 South Korea (7-6 Pens) Highlights, AFC U23 Asian Cup: 10-Man Golden Star Warriors Seal Shootout Win

Good evening, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering the U23 football match between Vietnam and South Korea in Jeddah. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Vietnam U23 vs South Korea U23

• Series: AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026

• Venue: King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah

• Date: Friday, January 23, 2026

• Time: 8:30 PM IST

• Live Streaming: FanCode

Vietnam and South Korea have met each other five times in the U23 level. South Korea are unbeaten, winning four times and drawing once. The last time they met was in a friendly in 2022 which ended 1-1.

Starting XI: Van Binh Cao; Van Ha Le, Nhat Minh Nguyen; Anh Quan Vo, Quoc Cuong Nyugen Thai, Thai Son Nyugen, Phi Hoang Nguyen; Van Thuan Le, Quoc Viet Nguyen, Dinh Bac Nguyen (c).

Bench: Dinh Hai Pham (gk), Trung Kien Tran (gk), Van Khang Khuat, Le Viktor, Cong Phuong Nguyen, Le Phat Nguyen, Ngoc My Nguyen, Thanh Nhan Nguyen, Xuan Bac Nguyen, Minh Phuc Pham.

Starting XI: Jae-yun Hwang; Min-Jun Kang, Hyun-Tae Jo, Min-Ha Shin, Seok-Hwan Jang; Ji-Hoon Jeong, Dong-Jin Kim (c), Hyun-Seo Bae; Seung-Bae Jung, Jae-sang Jeong, Do-Hyun Kim.

Bench: Sung-min Hong (gk), Hyeon-Ho Moon (gk), Ga-On Baek, Seong-Jin Kang, Han-Seo Kim, Tae-won Kim, Yong-Hak Kim, Chan-Wook Lee, Geon-hee Lee, Hyun-Yong Lee, Jun-seo Park.

Referee Abdullah Jamali blows his whistle, and the match is underway in Jeddah. Korea, in all black, are on the attack right away against Vietnam in the red. A bright start to the third-placed match.

With little at stake, South Korea began the match well, domianting most of the ball and trying to make some darting runs into the box. Vietnam, egged on by a vocal group of supporters, withstood the pressure and are enjoying a nice spell themselves. However, we are yet to see any shots.

It has been an entertaining match so far. Do-Hyun makes a good run down the left and cuts the ball across the face of goal. It almost finds the toe of Jae-Sang, but Van Bingh came rushing, colliding with his own defender but holding on to the ball. Brave goalkeeping.

What a save from Van Binh to deny Min-Jun a sure goal!! Brilliant play from the Koreans down the left flank, with the ball being worked patiently into the box. After a crisp one-two with Jae-Sang, the right-back has a turning shot that is kept out brilliantly by the Vietnamese goalkeeper.

Vietnam take the lead against the run of play at the half-hour mark!! A brilliant counter-attacking move from the Golden State Warriors, with Nguyen Duc Anh winning the ball and playing a long-pass to find Nguyen Dinh Bac. The skipper squared it back for Nguyen Quoc Viet, who thumped it to find the roof of the net.

Out of nowhere, the referee has awarded South Korea a penalty!! It was a foul by Nguyen Dinh Bac, who appeared to catch Hyun-Tae square on the face just inside the box.

However, VAR asks the referee to take another look at the incident on the pitch-side monitor. Replays show that the Vietnamese skipper did try to bring his foot back, and the referee overturns his decision. No Penalty!

More than four minutes of extra time passes, and the referee blows his whistle to end the first half. It was a fascinating 45 minutes of football, with a wonderful goal putting Vietnam ahead against the favourites, South Korea.

Both sets of players are out on the pitch, and the second half is underway. Changes aplenty coming at the break, with South Korea bringing on three players – Lee Hyun-Yong, Kang Seong-Jing, and Lee Chan-Ouk. Making way are Hyun-Tae, Dong-Jin, and Ji-Hun. Vietnam replace their goalscorer, Nguyen Quoc Viet, with Nguyen Cong Phuong.

Brilliant football again from the Koreans, who have started the second half on the front foot. A good cross from the right finds Do-Hyun in the box, but his shocked is blocked by the defence. The loose ball falls to Chan-Ouk, who blasts it way over the crossbar.

We are just over the hour mark, and Vietnam are struggling to go past their own half. South Korea are bossing the ball and dictating the tempo, though the final third play has left a lot to be desired. As a result, the Taeguk Warriors bring on Kim Tae-won to replace Jae-Sung up front.

What a fine finish from Tae-won to draw South Korea level! Vietnam fail to clear a long ball into the box, and Do-Hyun keeps the chance alive. He lays it off for Tae-won, and the substitute turns and shoots to find the bottom corner.

Dinh Bac, you beauty!! The Vietnam captain finds the bottom corner from a sublime free-kick to put the Golden State Warriors ahead, just two minutes after conceding. From a dead-ball situation 25 yards away, Dinh Bac finds the gap, beating the reach of the diving Jae-Yun. That's his fourth goal of the tournament, which gives his a share of the Golden Boot.

With less than eight minutes left to play in regulation time, Vietnam introduce some fresh legs on the pitch. Midfielders Thai Son and Van Thuan come off, replaced by Nguyen Xuan Bac and Nguyen Noc Mai.

Dinh Bac is sent off by the referee!! The skipper dives in to a challenge, catching Chan-Ouk on the shin with his studs up. The Korean midfielder goes down in agony, and the referee shows a straight red card to the Vietnamese captain!! The minnows are down to 10 men, with mout minutes plus stoppage time left to play.

Min-Ha has drawn South Korea level with what is surely the last kick of regulation time!! The Vietnamese fail to clear a ball into the box, and it dropped for Min-Ha. The centre-back used his strength to hold off the defenders and shoot, finding the bottom corner. We will go to extra time!!

The referee blows his whistle to bring an end to regulation time, and we will have 30 more minutes of extra time. Vietnam, who defended with their all since going down to 10 men, will have it all to do despite being a man less.

The referee blows his whistle, and the 10 men of Vietnam get the first half of extra time underway. The Golden State Warriors are possibly looking for penalties as they have continued to park the bus against a resurgent Korea side.

The first half of extra time comes to an end, and the Vietnamese have been happy to play with all of their outfield players behind the ball. The Koreans did have a handful of sights of goal, but their lack of cutting edge means that the deadlock remains intact.

South Korea get the second half of extra time underway. The Taeguk Warriors have 15 more minutes to get a goal against their depleted opponents, else we will go to penalties.

Off to penalties we go, folks! Brilliant rearguard action from Vietnam, withstanding wave upon wave of Korean attacks. Now the 10-men of Vietnam will face the lottery of penalties against South Korea.

Vietnam:

• Khuat Van Kang 🟢

• Pham Minh Phuc 🟢

• Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong 🟢

• Nguyen Noc My 🟢

• Nguyen Nhat Minh 🟢

• Nguyen Xuan Bac 🟢

• Nguyen Thanh Nhan 🟢

South Korea:

• Kim Tae-won 🟢

• Kang Seong-Jin 🟢

• Lee Chan-Ouk 🟢

• Kim Yong-Hak 🟢

• Lee Hyun-Yong 🟢

• Jang Seok-Hwan 🟢

• Bae Hyun-Seo 🔴

It's all over in Jeddah, and Vietnam have secured only their second podium finish in this tournament. Despite going down to 10 men, they dug in and defended with their lives. After 12 perfect penalties, the mis-hit by Hyun-Seo handed them the Golden State Warriors the win.