North Korea advanced to the top 16 of the 2025 U-17 Women s World Cup, shocking the Korean media and lamenting the country s disparity

On October 28, local time, in the top 16 of the 2025 U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco, the U-17 North Korean women's football team, which was aiming to defend its title, faced the host Morocco and won a 6-1 victory, which shocked the world. In sharp contrast to the outstanding defending champions, the South Korean team was the only Asian team in this tournament to be eliminated in the group stage. It had a record of 1 draw and 2 losses but no wins. It only scored 1 goal but conceded 7 goals, showing a dismal performance.

The U-17 North Korean women's football team successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

Faced with this result, the South Korean media lamented the gap between the two countries. "SPOTV NEWS》After the game, the headline was "North Korea outperformed South Korea in the World Cup, advancing to the quarterfinals, becoming competitive on the world stage and aiming to defend the title; South Korea was humiliatingly eliminated from the group stage with 0 wins." The report was as follows:

"The U-17 North Korean women's football team crushed the host team, Monaco Luo Ge showed the strength of the defending champion. On the other hand, South Korea ended the journey with a dismal result of 0 wins in the group stage. The fate of the two teams was in stark contrast. "

The media praised the North Korean team's performance, saying that "the North Korean team has won a total of 4 games in the group stage and the top 16. Scored 15 goals and only conceded 2 goals, showing an almost perfect performance. "And pointed out "The North Korean women's football team is very strong, ranking 10th in the FIFA rankings " and then added: "They have established their status as an absolute strong team in the U-17 Women's Football World Cup. Having won the first tournament in 2008, the 2016 tournament, and the 2024 tournament, this time he is also making steady progress towards the goal of defending his title. Not only are the players' personal skills superb, but their tactical organization and pressure are also top-notch in the world "

The media recalled and lamented. Current situation: "On the other hand, the South Korean team was eliminated early without winning a game. Although they won the championship for the first time in the 2010 competition held in Trinidad and Tobago and emerged as the star of hope for Asian women's football, they disappeared from the world stage in the following 15 years. The team that won the finals that year The echelon that defeated Japan and won the championship is, like North Korea now, a team that is technically, tactically and physically balanced. "

"The South Korean team's performance in this tournament was unparalleled, with frequent defensive mistakes and a clear lack of accuracy in attacking. The attack was in chaos, and attempts to rely on personal skills to break through or penetrate the frontcourt failed. Compared with the players' personal skills, the lack of maturity of the team's tactical system was more fatal. "

The article pointed out with disappointment: "This tournament has exposed Asia. Internal distance. North Korea has the strength to compete with the world's top teams, but South Korea lacks competitiveness even on the Asian stage. Among the four teams in Asia, China, Japan, and North Korea have all advanced to the knockout rounds. "

In addition, "Xports" News" also pointed out: "At the level of the women's youth national team, the gap between South Korea and North Korea is further widening. South Korea played against North Korea at the U-17 Women's Asian Cup held in May last year and suffered a 0-7 defeat. North Korea has experienced the gap firsthand. North Korea has steadily proven its competitiveness on the world stage. On the contrary, South Korea has been unable to make a difference since the 2010 event. "

It seems that the Korean media has felt the crisis deeply and believes that the gap with North Korea is constantly widening.