Kim Hee-jin Scores 7 Goals as Women's U-17 Football Team Crushes UAE 16-0 in Asian Cup Qualifiers

South Korea kicked off the qualifiers for the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Women's Asian Cup with a comfortable, high-scoring victory.

The South Korean U-16 women's national team defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 16-0 in their first Group A match of the 2027 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers held yesterday at the Tursunzoda Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Kim Hee-jin (Ulsan Hyundai High School) dominated the match by scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick within the first 30 minutes of the game, while Go Ji-eun (Ulsan Hyundai High School) added four goals in an offensive masterclass that overwhelmed the opponents.

Led by Korea Football Association full-time coach Lee Da-young, the national team will face Tajikistan on October 9 and Jordan on October 11 sequentially.

A total of 30 teams are participating in this tournament, divided into eight groups for the qualifiers.

The first-place team from each qualifying group will advance to the final tournament.

Along with these teams, the four semifinalists from this year's Asian Cup finals (North Korea, Japan, Australia, and China) will make up a total of 12 teams advancing to the U-17 Women's Asian Cup finals, which will be held in China in April next year.

Teams that finish in the top four at the Asian Cup finals will secure their tickets to the 2027 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) U-17 Women's World Cup.

South Korea was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup finals held last May, failing to qualify for this year's World Cup finals.

(Photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.