South Korea crush Uzbekistan to cruise into Women's Asian Cup semis

Updated: Mar 14, 2026, 11:35 am

South Korea advanced to the Women's Asian Cup semifinals in emphatic fashion after a 6-0 win over Uzbekistan on Saturday.
South Korea advanced to the Women's Asian Cup semifinals in emphatic fashion after a 6-0 win over Uzbekistan on Saturday.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

South Korea have bulldozed their way through Uzbekistan and into the Women's Asian Cup semifinals with a 6-0 thrashing.

The South Koreans stormed into a 2-0 lead in Saturday's quarter-final at Stadium Australia after just 20 minutes with goals from Son Hwa-Yeon and Ko Yoo-Jin.

The Uzbeks put up a solid fight to stem the bleeding, before Park Soo-Jeong, Ji So-Yun, Lee Eun-Young and Jang Sel-Gi added goals in the second half in Sydney in front of 12, 974 fans.

South Korea will meet the winners of Sunday's quarterfinal between Japan and Philippines in the semifinals in Sydney on Wednesday.

Uzbekistan, meanwhile, will play the losers of that fixture in Thursday's playoffs on the Gold Coast, where victory would secure qualification for next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil.

South Korea dominated Saturday's match from start to finish and are likely to face much sterner opposition in the semi-final.

Shin Sang-Woo's side had 16 shots on target to Uzbekistan's one and enjoyed 80% of possession.

It took little time for the South Koreans to take the lead when Son cut in from the right and her shot deflected off Dilrabo Asadova and into the back of the net after just nine minutes.

Ko was next to get in on the action when Sevinch Kuchkorova failed to properly clear a South Korean cross and the defender rifled in from the edge of the box.

The Ubzeks held firm but were struggling to create any real opportunities to test South Korean goalkeeper Ryu Ji-Soo.

Zarina Mamatkarimova arguably had their best chance of the match on the counter just before halftime, but was unable to get a shot past Ryu.

Any faint hope of a second-half Uzbek comeback was extinguished when Park stabbed home in the 57th minute.

Ji made it four when she poked through a tight space and past Uzbekistan goalkeeper Maftuna Jonimqulova, whose heroics prevented the South Koreans from running out to a double-digit lead.

Lee grabbed the South Koreans' fifth of the night when she tapped in an 86th-minute rebound from close range, before Jang smashed in an added-time penalty.