In pursuit of their third straight gold medal, South Korea will face Bahrain, Thailand and Kuwait in the group stage of the Asian Games men's football tournament this fall.
The draw for the competition took place in the Asian Games host city of Hangzhou, China, on Thursday. South Korea ended up in Group E with the three other countries.
There will be 23 nations divided into six nations. Groups A, B, C, E and F will have four teams each, and Group D will have three nations.
The top two teams from each group, plus four best runners-up, will advance to the knockout stage.
South Korea will first play Kuwait on Sept. 19, followed by Thailand on Sept. 21 and Bahrain on Sept. 24. All three matches will be at Jinhua Sports Centre Stadium in Jinhua, south of the main host city of Hangzhou.
South Korea won the men's football gold medal at the Asian Games in 2014 and 2018. The Hangzhou competition was postponed by one year from 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
North Korea will also participate in the competition. They are in Group F with Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei.
At the Asian Games, the men's football competition is limited to players under 23, with the exception of three overage spots granted to each team. For the Hangzhou event, the age limit has been pushed up to 24 to account for the one-year postponement.
In the women's football tournament, South Korea will play Hong Kong, the Philippines and Myanmar in Group E.
There will be 17 teams in the women's event: three teams each in Groups A, B and C, and four teams each in Groups D and E.
The five group winners and the three best runners-up will move on to the quarterfinals.
South Korea will play Myanmar on Sept. 22, the Philippines on Sept. 25 and Hong Kong on Sept. 28 -- all of them at Wenzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Wenzhou, south of Hangzhou.
North Korea will play out of Group C against Singapore and Cambodia.
The Asian Games will run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8. Football tournaments usually kick off prior to the opening ceremony because of scheduling crunch. The men's football competition will begin Sept. 19.
Source: Yonhap News Agency