Men’s U-20 national team finished second in the group stage to take on Ecuador in the FIFA U-20 World Cup round of 16.

Kim Eunjung’s side fought out a goalless draw with group leaders Gambia in their final group match staged at Mendoza Stadium on Sunday, as they finished runners-up to face Ecuador at Santiago del Estero Stadium in three days' time.

In the other fixture in Group F, France beat Honduras 3-1 to finish third although it was not enough for Les Bleus to advance to the knockout stage. A total of 24 participating teams in the U-20 World Cup are divided into six groups of four teams, with the winners and the runners-up from each group reaching the round of 16 along with four third-placed teams with best results.

With Korea Republic having already secured passage to the second round, coach Kim Eunjung made no fewer than seven changes to rest most of his key players. Only four of them – Kim Jisoo, Lee Seungwon, Kang Seongjin and Lee Youngjun – remained on the starting XI.

Korea made a cautious approach to the game against Gambia in the first half, focusing on the ball possession and defending deep down the line rather than recklessly moving forward. Their first chance of note came after 11 minutes, when Lee Seungwon’s short corner was collected by Kang Seongjin, who fired just wide from the right side of the area. The otherwise uneventful half ended in a goalless stalemate with both sides unable to open the deadlock.

Gambia came out stronger into the second half, with Adama Bojang’s pointblank header denied by a reflex save from Moon Hyunho two minutes after the break. Moments later, Moon did well to smother another effort from Mansour Mbye on the left side of the box.

Kim responded by bringing on Kim Yonghak and Bae Junho to turn the tide, but it was the Gambians that tightened their grip on the encounter. On 67minutes, substitute Salifu Colley’s effort was parried away by Moon before ricocheting off the right post and back into the arms of the goalkeeper. Bojang thought he had put his side ahead four minutes later, but the referee ruled it offside much to the relief of the men in red.

Korea Republic absorbed the waves of attack to launch a couple of counters later on, but they were unable to convert their chances in the closing minutes.

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Group F

Korea Republic 0-0 Gambia

KOR: Moon Hyunho, Choi Yehoon (Bae Seojoon 85’), Hwang Intaek, Kim Jisoo, Cho Youngkwang, Park Hyunbin, Lee Chanouk (Bae Junho 58’), Lee Jihan (Lee Seungjoon 71’), Lee Seungwon (Kang Sangyoon 46’), Kang Seongjin (Kim Yonghak 58’), Lee Youngjun