TEHRAN - Iran are determined to kick off their campaign on a winning note when they face South Korea in their AFC U23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Group C opening tie on Wednesday.

Korea, the 2020 champions are aiming to go all the way after making their exit at the quarter-final stage in the last two editions, and head coach Lee min-Sung is confident of their chances.

This will be the second encounter between Korea Republic and Iran in the AFC U23 Asian Cup, with the former winning the previous meeting 2-1 in 2020.

Korea Republic have won 18 games in the AFC U23 Asian Cup, the joint-most by any side in competition history alongside Japan.

Iran have failed to progress beyond the group stage in each of their last two AFC U23 Asian Cup participations (in 2022 and 2020), after having done so in their debut edition in 2016.

“We have studied the way Iran play, and they have very good strikers and are good in their build-up. We need to control these aspects, and this will prove to be a very exciting match,” he said.

“The players have had seven training camps since I took over as head coach, and they faced some problems with teamwork and fitness levels, but we overcame these at our final camp.

“Today we are in peak condition, our confidence is high and it is really important that we obtain the best possible result in our opening match.” 

Iran head coach Omid Ravankhah echoed Lee’s sentiments about Group C being composed of exceptional teams.

“This is a group with respected teams, but we have set our objective and are determined to perform well,” he said. “We are familiar with the Korea Republic game and they are very strong, but we will go out to win.”

The Central Asian side did not qualify for the 2024 edition, but their perfect showing in the Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers has boosted their confidence.

“We have very strong, talented players, and all of them are looking forward to succeeding and achieving a significant result in our first match.”

The match will be held at the Al Shabab Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.