Park Soo-jeong propels Korea to World Cup's knockout stage in 1-0 win over Germany

Park Soo-jeong's goal led Korea to a 1-0 victory over Germany, securing the team a spot in the round of 16 at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The U-20 Korean women's national team, in red, celebrate after beating Germany in Group D of the U-20 Women's World Cup in Bogota, Colombia on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Park Soo-jeong scored the winner in Korea’s 1-0 victory over Germany in their final match in Group D of the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup on Saturday, leading her side through to the round of 16 as one of the best third-place finishers.

Having taken one loss and one draw in the group stage, the young Taeguk Ladies needed to secure three points at Techo Stadium in Bogota, Colombia, for a chance of booking a ticket to the knockout stage, in which two teams from each of the six groups as well as the four best third-place teams compete.

The chances of that seemed low — Germany already had two wins and eight goals to their name, not to mention being historically one of the two strongest tournaments in U-20 Women's World Cup history, with three wins.

But the young Taeguk Ladies made every possession percentage count, managing 10 shots and four on target.

Park scored the eventual winner in the 22nd minute, after which Germany attempted multiple shots but were unable to get anything across.

Germany still reach the knockout stage as the Group D winners, with Nigeria joining the last 16 as Group D runners-up.

Korea did not secure its spot in the round of 16 immediately after the final whistle, however — that was sealed after the United States beat Paraguay 7-0 in Group C later in the day.

Korea, with four points, edged out Paraguay's three.

This year marks the first time that 24 teams have played in the biennial tournament. The 2022 cup included 16 countries.

The U-20 Korean national team made their first World Cup appearance in 2004 and have competed seven times, with a 2010 third-place finish remaining their best result.

They have not reached the semifinals since then and crashed out of the group stage in 2022.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]