North Korea can win eighth youth world title this Sunday | OneFootball

North Korea face Spain on Sunday aiming to win the Under-20 Women's World Cup for a fourth time. It would be the North Koreans' eighth youth world title overall, adding to their four Under-17 World Cup triumphs. A dominant force in age-group football, the communist nation has not replicated that success with its senior team. We looked into the reasons.

The North Koreans won the inaugural Under-17 World Cup in 2007, and also lifted the trophy in 2015, 2024 and 2025. In the Under-20 tournament, they were champions in 2006, 2016 and 2024, and are now chasing a fourth title in the category.

Their campaign leaves little doubt about their dominance. They qualified with a 100% record in the group stage, beating Portugal, Colombia and Costa Rica, before defeating Japan, Canada and Colombia in the knockout rounds.

North Korea have not conceded a single goal in this edition of the Under-20 World Cup, and they have the second-best attack, behind only the other finalist, Spain, who, despite scoring 21 goals, have the worst defence, having conceded 15.

Paula Comendador, who knocked Brazil out in the quarter-finals, is battling North Korean Choe Il-Song for the top scorer award, with the Spaniard holding a one-goal lead. Choe, in fact, was the top scorer at the last tournament in this age group, won by North Korea, and was also a world champion at Under-17 level, beating Spain, who had Paula Comendador in attack. The two now meet again in a final, one age category higher.

If Spain, world champions with the senior national team in 2023, managed to turn their youth World Cup success into senior-team talents such as Bonmatí, Putellas and Guijarro, North Korea have not achieved the same outcome, either in producing players for the senior side or at collective level.

The reasons behind North Korea's youth success

The first Women's World Cup was held in 1991. North Korea did not qualify, after a poor campaign in the 1989 Asian Cup. But the country's communist government considered sport as an opportunity to promote the regime.

Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's father and the country's supreme leader at the time, saw a chance that he would not have in other sports, let alone men's football: to challenge the world's major powers and foster national pride. North Korea created its own 'talent laboratory'.

Still under Kim Jong Il's rule, the Taesong District Juvenile Sports School was founded, and later the Pyongyang International Football School took on a leading role in athlete development. Between the ages of 7 and 16, girls selected by the government's talent-spotting network in various cities are brought together under an intensive training regime, complemented by regular schooling. Science and discipline are the foundations of the school.

German coach Thomas Gerstner, in an interview with Australian outlet ABC News, once explained how the youth training system worked.

"All the players, from various national teams, stay at the National Training Centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and do not play for clubs after being selected. They train six days a week. And they are not paid. They live in accommodation, receive food and simply take pride in (or are taught to take pride in) representing the country," he said.

North Korea also has the May Day Stadium in its capital, which has a capacity of 150,000 and, for major matches, is filled with soldiers and students ordered by the regime to attend.

And at senior level

The success in the youth categories has a very clear reason: high-performance training from a young age, discipline and a clear objective of building winning teams. But that also, to some extent, hampers the development of individual talent.

The main focus is on building collectively strong teams, rather than individual brilliance. And that raises a question: which youth national team trains six times a week, every day, throughout the year, in preparation for a youth tournament Absolutely none. And in youth football, that makes all the difference.

However, when it comes to professional football, the North Koreans face players who have left the development system and are competing at a much higher level in the professional game, something the North Korean regime cannot match. The competitive environment is far tougher for a player featuring in the NWSL or the WSL and Champions League than for a North Korean player confined to Pyongyang.

At the latest Asian Cup, North Korea were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Australia, losing 2-0. The Australian side have players at clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham, among others. The only North Korean playing abroad is Ri Song, of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan. Ri Song is, however, a complete exception, and was not even in the starting XI against Australia.

Even so, despite that elimination, North Korea secured a place at the 2027 Women's World Cup, to be held in Brazil, after a 4-0 play-off win over Taiwan. It will be North Korea's first appearance since 2011 in Germany. Their best ever run came in 2007, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2011, North Korea exited in the group stage).

The Asian nation is currently ranked 11th in the FIFA rankings, a notable position for a country with limited footballing tradition. It shows that, despite fierce competition, the North Koreans are still reaping some rewards from their excellent youth development work, even if not the trophies desired by the regime.

This Sunday, at 1pm in Poland, North Korea will try to win a fourth Under-20 world title and an eighth if the Under-17 titles are included. Whatever the result, it will be a clash between two major schools of women's football, each with its own distinctive approach...