China U23 defeated Uzbekistan U23 after a penalty shootout.
Specifically, the Chinese U23 team has played 4 matches in this year's AFC U23 Asian Championship, remaining undefeated in all 4, but winning only one of them (only counting wins within regular time, including 120 minutes of regulation and extra time). The only team the Chinese U23 team has lost to since the start of the tournament is the Australian U23 team.
The young team from the country with the world's largest population has only scored one goal before the semi-finals. The only goalscorer for the Chinese U23 team so far is center-back Peng Xiao, who scored against Australia U23 (winning 1-0).
China's U23 team had only won one match and scored one goal before the semi-finals (Photo: AFC).
In the history of the AFC U23 Asian Championship finals, no team has reached the semi-finals with as few goals scored and as few wins as the Chinese U23 team in 2026.
In 2018, the Vietnam U23 team under coach Park Hang Seo also only won one match (defeating Australia U23 1-0), in terms of match time, before reaching the semi-finals against Qatar U23.
However, before reaching the semi-finals, the Vietnam U23 team that year scored 5 goals (losing 1-2 to South Korea, winning 1-0 against Australia, drawing 0-0 with Syria in the group stage, drawing 3-3 with Iraq and then winning in the penalty shootout in the quarter-finals), not just one goal like the China U23 team this year.
Notably, no striker from the Chinese U23 team has scored a goal in the 2026 tournament. In the quarter-final match between China U23 and Uzbekistan U23 on January 17th, statistics show that China U23 only controlled the ball 29%, compared to 71% for their opponent.
The team from the most populous country only had 6 shots on goal in the aforementioned match, compared to 28 shots by Uzbekistan U23. China U23 did not have a single shot on target, compared to 8 shots on target by Uzbekistan.
China's U23 team has a very strong defense, and goalkeeper Li Hao is excellent (Photo: Sohu).
The statistics continue to reflect the poor attacking capabilities of the Chinese U23 team. Conversely, their defensive performance is surprisingly good.
Historically, only two teams have reached the semi-finals without conceding a single goal, like China's current U23 team: Saudi Arabia in the 2022 tournament and Uzbekistan in the 2024 tournament.
In 2022, the Saudi Arabian team won the tournament, achieving a perfect record of not conceding a single goal: They beat Tajikistan 5-0, drew with Japan 0-0, beat UAE 2-0 in the group stage, beat Vietnam U23 2-0 in the quarter-finals, beat Australia 2-0 in the semi-finals, and beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in the final.
In 2024, the Uzbekistan U23 team reached the final of the tournament. They kept a clean sheet until the very last match, conceding only one goal throughout the tournament against Japan U23, but that goal came in the final, forcing the Central Asian team to finish as runners-up.
The fact that the Chinese U23 team did not concede a goal before the semi-finals reflects their very strong defense. In particular, the Chinese U23 goalkeeper Li Hao was outstanding. He saved 8 shots from the Uzbekistan U23 players in the quarter-final match, including a penalty kick from an Uzbekistan U23 player.
Watch the entire 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship Finals on TV360 at https://tv360.vn. Enjoy a smooth multi-platform experience, rewind and replay, and free Viettel 4G/5G data.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/u23-trung-quoc-vao-ban-ket-voi-thong-so-kho-tin-trong-lich-su-giai-chau-a-20260117233158986.htm
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