Korea and hosts Australia are through to the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Asia Cup after picking up comfortable wins earlier today,
Australia booked their quarter-final place in emphatic fashion by defeating the Iran 4-0 while Korea eased to a 3-0 victory over the Philippines.
Two goals in a three-minute first-half spell sent Korea, the 2022 finalists on their way to second victory in as many matches after having defeated Iran by the same score .
The Philippines’ hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages were dashed as they had also lost 1-0 to Australia in their opener.
As they did against Iran three days ago, Korea dominated proceedings from the start, even with Shin Sang-woo making seven changes to the starting line-up.
The first attempts on goal came from two of the new faces, Lee Min-hwa and Choo Hyo-joo, before another trio combined for the breakthrough in the 12th minute.
Surging from midfield, Kim Shin-ji’s pass into the box was dummied over by Park Soo-jeong and Jeon Yu-gyeong collected the ball before turning on a dime and lashing it into the bottom right corner for her first international goal in her third cap.
Three minutes later, a driving run from Soo-jeong saw her feed Hyo-joo down the left and take the return pass on the edge of the area before curling a gorgeous finish into the top right for her maiden goal as well on her fourth Korea appearance.
Struggling to gain any foothold in the match, the Philippines were relieved to see another Korean strike on 20 minutes disallowed for offside in the build-up.
The only notable response from the blue shirts came late in the first half from Carleigh Frilles, whose tame shot from range was easily fielded by Kim Min-jung.
Mark Torcaso made two substitutions at half-time to try and get the Southeast Asians back into the game, but the pattern of play remained largely the same from the restart and the Taegeuk Ladies added a third in the 57th minute.
After Olivia McDaniel had done well to tip over Son Hwa-yeon’s effort, she failed to convincingly deal with Kim Shin-ji’s corner delivery and the loose ball dropped kindly for Mun Eun-ju to stab in her fifth international goal from barely a metre out.
Korea Republic went in search of a fourth but while Jeon was denied a second by a brilliant last-ditch block from Hali Long in the 72nd minute, they were unable to add to their tally in registering their 30th win in tournament history.
Meanwhile, in front of a near sellout crowd at the Gold Coast Stadium, Australia started brightly on a rain-slicked surface as Caitlin Foord won a free-kick in the D with less than two minutes on the clock that was hit low by Emily van Egmond and well held by Maryam Yektaei.
Australia’s dominance was rewarded six minutes later. One of five new faces in the starting line-up, Amy Sayer had the crowd on their feet when her cross from the right flew straight into the far corner for her fifth international goal.
Sam Kerr then uncharacteristically lobbed an effort wide after being sent clear by Van Egmond, while Foord’s fierce finish in the 18th minute was disallowed due to Kerr straying offside in the buildup.
But Iran’s resistance was broken in the 27th minute when Yektaei failed to gather Foord’s teasing right-wing delivery and the ball fell to Mary Fowler, who reacted quickest to scramble in her 17th goal for Australia – and first since April 2025.
A third arrived eight minutes later through Alanna Kennedy, who met Kerr’s deft flick in the box with a crisp volley into the bottom left corner.
Yektaei then produced a fine save to tip away Ellie Carpenter’s deflected long-range strike, before Foord mistimed her effort at the far post with the goal at her mercy and sent the ball over.
Kerr thought she had made it 4-0 in the 44th minute, only for VAR to rule the Matildas’ all-time leading scorer offside for a second time.
The largely one-way traffic resumed after the break as Carpenter stung Yektaei’s palms again with another strike from distance, although Fatemeh Pasandideh came close to scoring Iran’s first-ever tournament goal when she lashed the ball just past the left post on 52 minutes.
But it was 4-0 near the hour mark when Kennedy rose highest to head in Van Egmond’s corner, notching her first brace for Australia.
The home side kept plugging away in a bid to add to their tally but were kept out by committed defending from their opponents, who were often pinned in their own half.
In search of a hat-trick, Kennedy joined Remy Siemsen upfront late on but even with 11 minutes of added time there was no way through, although by then Australia had long sealed their knockout berth for the seventh time in as many editions.
Australia will meet Korea on Sunday in a clash to determine who wins the group, while Iran face Philippines at the same time to battle for third place in the group.
