North Korea won its third Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup on Sunday, defeating Japan 1-0 in Bogotá.
They became the joint most successful team in the tournament’s history, tying with powerhouse nations Germany and the United States.
Choe Il-son’s 15th-minute goal capped an outstanding campaign for North Korea, who won every game in Colombia.
The 17-year-old attacker finished as the competition’s best scorer, earning the Golden Boot with six goals.
“It’s so hard to express ourselves right now. This has been a dream of so many of us for so long,” said North Korea’s captain, Chae Un-yong.
“The final match was tough, as we expected, and we had to remain calm and play according to the coach’s tactical instructions.”
North Korea dominated the competition, defeating Argentina, the Netherlands, and Brazil en route to the semifinals.
A 1-0 victory over the United States set up an all-Asian final versus Japan, the previous tournament’s runners-up in 2022.
Choe’s goal, a slightly deflected left foot strike, was enough to score a historic triumph for North Korea at El Camin Stadium.
She was chosen player of the match and received both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball, which are presented to the World Cup’s best overall player.
North Korea’s victory is especially noteworthy given that the country withdrew from global sporting competition for several years owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
After not playing since 2018, the North Korean Women’s U20 team returned to the international stage in March this year to compete in the Asian Cup in Uzbekistan.
Despite the six-year layoff, they won the event, defeating Japan 2-1 for their second title.
“To firstly win the Asian Cup and now follow that with this success means that I’m so proud of the team,” said the team coach, Ri Song-ho, following their World Cup triumph.
“We have shown that we are very dangerous in the way that we build up attacks; it’s all about the speed of how we go forward.”
