South Korea beat Ecuador 3-2 in Lodz, Poland, on Saturday to finish second in Group C and advance to the round of 16 at the U-20 Women's World Cup.
Substitutes Park Ju-ha and Kim Min-seo scored two minutes apart in the second half to help South Korea secure its first win of the tournament after a 1-1 draw with France and a 3-1 loss to Ghana.
South Korea finished with four points, three behind France, which beat Ghana 4-0 in its final group game. Ecuador and Ghana each finished with three points, placing third and fourth on goal difference.
South Korea will face Argentina at Sosnowiec Arena on Sept. 16 at 10 p.m. Korean time for a place in the quarterfinals.
Lee Ha-eun of Uiduk University opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Han Min-seo won possession in midfield and passed forward to Lee, who finished with her left foot from the left side of the penalty area.
Dariana Moran equalized for Ecuador in the 57th minute before South Korea coach Park Youn-jung made several attacking substitutions in the 68th.
Park Ju-ha restored the lead in the 72nd minute with a left-footed shot from in front of the penalty area. Kim added another goal two minutes later, intercepting the ball in Ecuador's half and dribbling past the last defender before scoring with her right foot from the right side of the box.
Evelyn Burgos cut the deficit to one in second-half stoppage time. Ecuador then had Fiorella Pico sent off for a second yellow card for a foul on Park Ju-ha.
South Korea reached the round of 16 for the second consecutive tournament after also advancing in Colombia in 2024, when the field expanded from 16 teams to 24. Its best finish was third in Germany in 2010. Argentina's best result was a round-of-16 appearance in 2024.
The top two teams in each of the six groups and the four best third-place teams advance to the knockout stage.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
