On Tuesday 4 June, the U-20 Japan National Team faced the U-20 Korea Republic National Team in their first match of the knockout stage at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019, and lost the match 0-1, ending their campaign in the round of 16.

The starting line-up against Korea Republic featured five changes from their match against Italy, as WAKAHARA Tomoya remained in goal, along with SUGAWARA Yukinari, SEKO Ayumu, KOBAYASHI Yuki, and SUZUKI Toichi in defence. SAITO Mitsuki and FUJIMOTO Kanya were positioned as the defensive midfielders while GOKE Yuta and YAMADA Kota were placed in the flanks. NISHIKAWA Jun and MIYASHIRO Taisei were named as the two strikers leading the offence.

The match saw Japan taking the initiative in the early minutes. With Nishikawa and Goke making frequent position changes, Japan constructed their offence from the build-up plays initiated from their defence line. The team effectively utilised both the flank and central spaces to break down the opponents with their combination plays. A close opportunity was created in the 20th minute, when Sugawara struck a shot from distance, while Yamada also came close with his shot taken in the 40th minute. Despite keeping 70% of the ball possession during the first half, Japan entered halftime scoreless......

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