In an exciting encounter, the Korean soccer team took the lead with a 1-0 victory in the 34th minute, courtesy of a beautiful shot by Lee Young-joon. The second half resumed with a resurgence of momentum, with the Koreans extending their lead to 2-0 in the 50th minute, but Malaysia did not let up and pushed their lead to 1-2 in the 66th minute, before the Koreans came back to make the score 3-1, and in the 69th minute, the Malaysians seized the opportunity to break through the Koreans' defense to make the score 2-3, followed by a pair of goals in the 74th and 81st minutes. In the 74th and 81st minutes, Korea scored twice, and with a penalty kick in the 88th minute, the final score was 6-2.
The victory made it three wins in a row for South Korea, who climbed to nine points and finished first in the group. They not only overtook Malaysia, but also became the fourth team to qualify after Japan, Qatar and Jordan. Malaysia are locked in second place with four points and will have to wait for the results of the other second-placed teams in the group to determine the final standings.
For China, Korea's victory certainly helped. Malaysia's loss puts China beyond 4 points, and even if they lose to Saudi Arabia, they are still expected to overtake Malaysia with a higher ranking. In addition, 4 of the 10 second-placed teams have 3 points, and even if they win in the final round, they will not be able to overtake the Chinese team. Together with Malaysia's 4 points, the Chinese team only needs to get 7 points to securely advance to the final round of the tournament, and the prospects are bright.
