Asian Cup 2023: Saudi Arabia loses to South Korea on penalties

The Republic of Korea national team succeeded in progressing to the quarter-finals after defeating Saudi Arabia by a 4-2 penalty shootout after the two teams tied 1-1 in regular and extra time on Tuesday at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, in the round of 16 in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.

The Saudi team advanced through Abdullah Redeef’s goal in the 46th minute, before the Republic of Korea equalized in the last breath through Cho Gui-sung (90+9).

The tie continued in the extra two halves, and the two teams resorted to penalty kicks, where the Korean team successfully scored four kicks, while Saudi Arabia scored two goals from four attempts.

The Republic of Korea team qualified to meet in the quarter-finals on Friday, with the Australia team, which beat Indonesia 4-0 on Sunday.

In the first round, the Saudi national team topped the Group Six standings with 7 points from three matches, compared to 5 points for Thailand, 2 points for Oman, and a point for Kyrgyzstan.

The team began the competition by defeating Oman 2-1, then defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-0, before tying in the third round with Thailand 0-0.

On the other hand, the Korean team ranked second in Group Five with 5 points from three matches, one point behind leaders Bahrain, compared to 4 points for Jordan, and a point for Malaysia.

The team succeeded in achieving victory in the first round against Bahrain 3-1, then tied with Jordan 2-2, before tying in the third round with Malaysia 3-3.