Not highly appreciated before the U20 World Cup started, U20 Ukraine made it to the final match thanks to their cohesive playing style but also lacked the explosions of outstanding individuals.
Meanwhile, overcoming the death group with the participation of Portugal, Argentina and South Africa, U20 Korea continued to impress with close victories over Japan, Senegal and Ecuador to achieve the feat of winning a ticket to the U20 World Cup final for the first time.
Entering the final at stadion Widzewa Lodz, both played with the most optimal possible squad. Facing the threshold of "Paradise", U20 Korea is very determined. In the 2nd minute, Lee Kang In fell in the penalty area after being hit by Danylo Beskorovainyi.
After consulting VAR, the referee decided to award a penalty to U20 Korea. From the 11m mark, Lee Kang In coolly defeated Lunin, bringing the opening goal for the "taeguk warriors".
Unexpectedly conceding an early goal made the U20 Ukraine players clearly confused. Despite having a lot of possession and proactively attacking, the Eastern European team did not really create a storm in front of goalkeeper Lee Gwang Yeon's goal.
However, they unexpectedly got an equalizer from a set piece. In the 34th minute, taking advantage of the chaotic situation after a free kick in front of the Korean U20 penalty area, Vladyslav Supriaha turned around very quickly and defeated goalkeeper Lee Gwang Yeon with a close-range shot, scoring the equalizer for Ukraine U20. 1-1 was also the score of the first 45 minutes of play.
Continuing the excitement, not long after the second half started, U20 Ukraine scored to increase the score to 2-1. In the 52nd minute, in a quick counter-attack, Supriaha moved very smartly to receive Yukhym Konoplia's pass before finishing gently, completing a double.
U20 Korea focused all their efforts on attacking after the second goal but encountered many difficulties in the extremely disciplined defense of U20 Ukraine. A rare opportunity came to the Asian representative in the 70th minute, but unfortunately, Lee Jae Ik's dangerous close-range header could not beat goalkeeper Lunin.
All hopes for U20 Korea ended in the 89th minute. Kim Hyun Woo passed the ball very harmfully for Heorhiy Tsitaishvili to have the ball. The player wearing the No. 7 shirt accelerated impressively before launching a cross-angle shot to seal the score at 3-1 for U20 Ukraine.
The final whistle was also the time when the players in red shirts fell onto the field. U20 Ukraine won 3-1 and won the U20 World Cup for the first time in history in an extremely worthy manner.
The Eastern European representative also maintained an unbeaten record with 6 wins and only 1 loss to the opponent in the group stage. With bright names such as Lunin, Buletsa or Supriaha, Ukrainians can completely hope for a new "golden generation" with their football background.
Despite failing to lift the championship trophy, U20 Korea still made a historic milestone by becoming the 3rd Asian team to win the U20 World Cup runner-up position, after Qatar (1981) and Japan (1999).
