The Saudi youth team received a difficult defeat against its Iraqi counterpart, 1-0, in a meeting that brought them together today, Sunday, in the second round of the group stage in the Asian U-20 Cup, held in China. The victory raised Iraq to the top of the group, while the "Green" mission was complicated in qualifying for the next round.

The Iraqi team entered the meeting strongly, and imposed early pressure on the Saudi defense. In the 25th minute, Amori Faisal succeeded in scoring the only goal of the match through a direct free kick that inhabited the net, announcing Iraq's progress in the result.

The first minutes witnessed dangerous opportunities from the Iraqi team, as Mustafa Kabil almost shake the net with a strong header in the ninth minute, but goalkeeper Hamid Youssef brilliantly tackled it. It also removed a missile shot from Laith Diaa in the 16th minute, to keep the "green" hopes to return to the match.

In the second half, the Saudi national team started its offensive attempts in search of a tie. In the 52nd minute, Saad Haqawi almost scored from a header that passed near the post, while Iraq quickly responded in the 54th minute through a powerful shot by Mustafa Cain hit the crossbar.

The match increased tension in the last minutes, as the Iraqi Ali Mukhallad received a red card in the 78th minute after a violent intervention on Ammar Al -Wahaibi. Despite Saudi Arabia's numerical excellence, Al -Akhdar did not take advantage of the opportunity, but his player, Saleh Barnawi, was exposed to expulsion in the 90th+1 minute after a strong intervention against Laith Diaa.

With this result, Iraq took the lead of the second group with 4 points, ahead of Jordan (3 points) by goal difference, while the Saudi team fell to third place with the same balance. Al -Akhdar will meet North Korea in the third round, while Iraq collides with Jordan in a fiery confrontation to determine the qualifiers for the next round.