TEHRAN - Japan defeated Iran 3-0 on Thursday to book a place at the 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup final.

The three-time AFC U-16 Championship winners advanced to the final with an accomplished performance at the Thammasat Stadium.

In the 10th minute, Gakuto Kawamura beat Esmaeil Gholizadeh on the left, putting in a low cross that was met by Ryunosuke Yada, who capped his late run with a left-footed first-time finish from 15 yards.

In the 15th minute, Ryunosuke Sato’s low drive was repelled by Iran custodian Arsha Shakouri but the second ball was sent right back into the mixer, where Kohei Mochizuki was on hand to slam in his fourth goal of the tournament.

 Ryunosuke Sato’s low free-kick whistled into the bottom left corner from 20 yards to seal a 3-0 win for Japan.

The East Asians will now face either Korea Republic or Uzbekistan on Sunday at the Pathum Thani Stadium.