Korea's under-23 squad, chasing a fourth straight Asian Games men's football title, opened its campaign with a lopsided win.
The team, coached by Lee Min-sung, beat Qatar 4-1 in its first Group D match of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games men's football tournament on Sept. 15 at the Mizuho Park Rugby Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, riding a hat-trick from Eom Ji-sung of Swansea City.
Korea, seeking a fourth consecutive men's football gold after wins at the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and 2022 Hangzhou Games held in 2023, took three points from the opener.
Fifteen countries are competing in the men's football event, split into four groups for the preliminary round before a knockout stage that begins in the quarterfinals.
Eom was the star of the day with his three goals. In the seventh minute, he collected a long ball from Kim Ji-soo of Brentford, exploited the space behind the defense and finished with his left foot to open the scoring. In the 20th minute, he capitalized on a defensive error to score with his right foot from the center of the penalty area. He completed the hat-trick in first-half stoppage time, taking a pass from Lee Seung-won of Gangwon and firing home with his right foot. Kim Myung-jun widened the margin in the 66th minute, and Korea closed out the win as Qatar managed only one goal in the 85th minute.
Korea faces Saudi Arabia on Sept. 22, a week later, with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake.
