Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers fired South Korea into the quarter-finals of the 2023 Asian Cup with the decisive penalty in a shootout victory over Saudi Arabia in Al Rayyan.
Despite struggling throughout the match, Jurgen Klinsmann's team staged a dramatic comeback in injury time as substitute Cho Gue-sung equalised in the last of 10 added minutes and forced the game into extra time.
Roberto Mancini's Saudi squad defended courageously in their bid to preserve a narrow one-goal lead secured by Abdullah Radif's superb finish just 50 seconds into the second half.
Heung-min Son took charge of the penalties for South Korea as the Tottenham man stepped up first to dispatch his spot-kick.
But credit must go to Jo Hyeon-woo, who made two fantastic saves to essentially seal the shootout win for his nation and ensure they remained in the tournament. After making back-to-back stops, Hwang then stepped up and smashed his penalty into the top right corner despite the immense pressure.
South Korea's prize is a quarterfinal against Australia on February 2.
MORE: Asian Cup full fixtures and results
2023 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage schedule
Round of 16
| Match No. | Date | Fixture |
| 37 | Jan. 28 | Australia 4-0 Indonesia |
| 38 | Jan. 28 | Tajikistan 1-1 (5-3 P) UAE |
| 39 | Jan. 29 | Iraq 2-3 Jordan |
| 40 | Jan. 29 | Qatar 2-1 Palestine |
| 41 | Jan. 30 | Uzbekistan 2-1 Thailand |
| 42 | Jan. 30 | Saudi Arabia 1-1 (2-4 P) South Korea |
| 43 | Jan. 31 | Bahrain vs. Japan |
| 44 | Jan. 31 | Iran vs. Syria |
Quarterfinal
| Match No. | Date | Fixture |
| QF. 1 | Feb. 2 | Tajikistan vs. Jordan |
| QF. 2 | Feb. 2 | Australia vs. South Korea |
| QF. 3 | Feb. 3 | Winner of Match 44 vs. Winner of Match 43 |
| QF. 4 | Feb. 3 | Qatar vs. Uzbekistain |
Semifinal
| Date | Fixture |
| Feb 6. | Winner of QF 1 vs. Winner of QF 2 |
| Feb 7. | Winner of QF 3 vs. Winner of QF 4 |
Final
| Date | Fixture |
| Feb 10. | Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 |
Saudi Arabia vs South Korea final score
| Final score | Penalty shootout | Goalscorer | |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 2 | Radif 46' |
| South Korea | 1 | 4 | Cho 99' |
Saudi Arabia vs South Korea live updates, highlights from Asian Cup
Saudi Arabia 2-4 South Korea: Hwang wins it for South Korea! That's some penalty given the pressure...
Saudi Arabia 2-3 South Korea: ANOTHER SAVE! Jo denies Ghareeb.
Saudi Arabia 2-3 South Korea: Cho strokes it into the back of the net. Advantage South Korea.
Saudi Arabia 2-2 South Korea: Jo SAVES Sami's penalty!
Saudi Arabia 2-2 South Korea: Kim levels it up...
Saudi Arabia 2-1 South Korea: Saud Abdulhamid finds the top corner, what a penalty!
Saudi Arabia 1-1 South Korea: Heung-min Son smashes home for South Korea.
Saudi Arabia 1-0 South Korea: Up steps Kanno who tucks it home with ease.
FT ET: We're headed to penalties...
120th minute: RADIF! He almost wins it with the last kick of the match but it's a save you'd expect the South Korea keeper to make.
114th minute: A huge save to keep Saudi in the game and tournament as Lee almost finds the top corner.
109th minute: South Korea really messed that one up! They should have been able to find the net there but in the end Son's own teammate gets in his way.
106th minute ET: The second half of extra time is underway! Will we see a winner or is this one headed to penalties?
HT ET: That's all for the first half of extra time.
97th minute ET: Lee Kang-in's corner is incredibly dangerous and Kim Min-Jae's header has the power but he can't find a corner.
91st minute ET: Extra time is underway.
FT: We're headed to extra time! Saudi came so close but yet so far...
⚽ GOAL | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 1️⃣-1️⃣ Korea Republic 🇰🇷
— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 30, 2024
Late late drama!! Cho Gue-sung heads in the equaliser for Korea Republic in the 9th minute of injury time!
Watch Live 📺 https://t.co/nJZ0pcUSJt#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #KSAvKOR pic.twitter.com/vGmsmQUcRs
99th minute: GOAL! THEY'VE DONE IT! Cho has forced the game to extra time with a great header at the back post.
93rd minute: OFF THE BAR! Cho's header is inches too tall, that was so close to the equaliser.
90th minute: TEN minutes of added time.
87th minute: Back-to-back incredible saves! Saudi denies South Korea yet again.
85th minute: There have been some cracking challenges from Saudi to prevent South Korea attacks in the last few moments or so. They're defending has been superb.
76th minute: Not long left now for Korea Republic to find an equaliser. Can they do it against Saudi who have 11 men behind the ball.
69th minute: Radif and Al-Dawsari combine well and the goalscorer gets another shot off but this time it flashes across the face of goal and out for a goal-kick.
64th minute: You get the feeling it's a little early for that, Saudi are cautioned for time-wasting.
55th minute: South Korea have hardly created a clear-cut chance in this match but they need to up their game, otherwise they will be out in just over half an hour from now.
46th minute: We're back underway and there's been a GOAL! Saudi lead within 50 seconds after a tidy finish from Radif.
⚽ GOAL | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 1️⃣-0️⃣ Korea Republic 🇰🇷
— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 30, 2024
The second half starts with a bang! Abdullah Radif slides one past Jo Hyeon-Woo to give Saudi the lead ⚡️
Watch Live 📺 https://t.co/nJZ0pcUSJt#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #KSAvKOR pic.twitter.com/TpJMXFHW5p
HT: That's it for the first half. Mancini's side will be gutted not to be ahead after hitting the woodwork twice in one attack. They'll have to keep one eye on Son in the second half, who keeps finding space in behind but hasn't quite taken advantage of it yet.
42nd minute: How have Saudi not scored?! They hit the bar twice in as many seconds! South Korea are incredibly fortunate to be on level terms here.
37th minute: Saudi are turning up the intensity yet again as they push to take the lead.
34th minute: The flow has been taken out of the game in the last ten minutes or so as both teams have committed multiple fouls.
26th minute: It's Son again with an opportunity for South Korea but his effort is right at the goalkeeper. They're growing nicely into this game.
20th minute: Son gets in behind for the first time but is well challenged, the Saudi defender had done his homework there and prevented the Spurs man from cutting onto his favoured right foot.
12th minute: The atmosphere inside the ground has been superb and they're making their voices heard. It feels like a home tie for Roberto Mancini's men.
6th minute: It's been a relatively cagey start to the opening stages of this knockout but Saudi have looked the better side.
1st minute: We're underway!
5 minutes until kickoff: The teams are in the tunnel and kickoff is next.
30 minutes until kickoff: The team news for the two sides this afternoon!
South Korea XI: Jo Hyeon-woo; Kim Tae-hwan, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su; Lee Kang-in, Hwang In-beom, Lee Jae-sung; Jeong Woo-yeong, Son Heung-min.
Saudi Arabia XI: Al Kassar; Al Tambkati, Lajami, Al Buhayi; Abdulhamid, N. Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Kanno, Al Burayk; S. Al Dawsari, Al Shehri.
1 hour until kickoff: South Korea have arrived!
🇰🇷 A true big match feeling here as the Korea Republic players arrive!
— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 30, 2024
Will they be the ones to move into the Quarter-Finals today?#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #KSAvKOR pic.twitter.com/JJFDn5Cc9I
2 hours until kickoff: It's set to be a clash of two heavyweights this evening.
3x🏆 winners Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 go against Korea Republic 🇰🇷 the 2-time champion
— AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) January 30, 2024
Who do you think will win? 👇#AsianCup2023 #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/Pz2hQy1N0T
Saudi Arabia vs South Korea lineups
Saudi Arabia rested certain players for their 0-0 draw with Thailand and midfield duo Mohamed Kanno and Nasser Aldawsari set to return to the starting XI.
Saudi Arabia starting lineup (3-4-3, left to right): Al Kassar (GK) — Al Tambkati, Lajami, Al Buhayi — Abdulhamid, N. Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Kanno, Al Burayk — S. Al Dawsari, Al Shehri.
Saudi Arabia: Al Yami, Najjar, Al Saluli, Al Sugor, Kadish, Al Muwallad, Ali, Al Naji, Al Malki, Al Brikan, Radif.
South Korea are expected to rotate following their 3-3 draw with Malaysia with Wolves attacker Hwang Hee-chan set to come into the starting lineup.
South Korea starting lineup (4-4-2, right to left): Jo Hyeon-woo (GK) — Kim Tae-hwan, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su — Lee Kang-in, Hwang In-beom, Lee Jae-sung — Jeong Woo-yeong, Son Heung-min.
South Korea subs: Lee Ke-ji, Park Yong-woo, Hong Hyun-seok, Hwang Hee-chan, Cho Gue-sung, Song Bum-keun, Lee Soon-min, Park Jin-seop, Yang Hyun-jun, Oh Hyeon-gyu, Kim Ji-soo, Seol Young-woo.
How to watch Saudi Arabia vs South Korea
Here's how to watch 2023 AFC Asian Cup matches across selected areas of the world's major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Fubo, Paramount+ |
| Canada | — | — |
| UK | — | TrillerTV |
| Australia | 10 Play | Paramount+ |
| India | — | FanCode |
USA: AFC Asian Cup matches will be available for live streaming via Paramount+ and Fubo.
UK: Asian Cup matches will be shown on subscription streaming service TrillerTV.
Australia: Paramount+ will provide streaming services for the tournament and 10 Play will broadcast Australia's matches.
India: Streaming service FanCode is the place to go for AFC Asian Cup matches.
