sports

Among those selected as top 10 players of the DPRK for 2024 are football stars Choe Il Son and Jon Il Chong.

Winner of Golden Ball and Golden Boot

Choe Il Son, a football player of the April 25 Sports Team, took part in the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup and 2024 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, contributing greatly to the DPRK team’s lifting winner’s trophies at the events.

A left-footer with fast speed, high dribbling technique and unusually good sense of scoring, she scored six goals during the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

He  scored in all the group league matches by making one goal in the match with Argentina, two goals against Costa Rica and one goal against the Dutch.

In the semi-final, Choe Il Son succeeded in scoring a goal by kicking a passed ball into the net in the 22nd minute, to finally beat the US team.

In the final match with the Japanese team against which the DPRK team played for the third time last year alone, she made the winning goal in the 15th minute. As a result, the DPRK women footballers defeated the opponents 1-0 and lifted the winner’s trophy.

She won the Golden Ball, the most valuable player award, and the Golden Boot, the top scorer award, at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and became a football star receiving warm congratulations from the people across the country.

Two awards in Asian and world cups

Jon Il Chong, a football player of the Amnokgang Sports Club, stole the show as a good scorer and the most valuable player in the two international football events held last year.

The DPRK team beat the Japanese team and became the Asian champion as Jon scored a goal in the final match of the 2024 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup.

She made six goals in the event and received the top scorer award.

She again kicked in the equalizer in the final of the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup when the DPRK team allowed a goal to the opponents, winning the Golden Ball, the most valuable player award, in the event.

The DPRK girls played the final match against Spain.

When they lost a point first, some people said that the rankings were already decided and the World Cup would be taken by the Spanish team this time again. But a miracle happened in the 66th minute, overturning all these conjectures. DPRK player No. 19 slipped the ball into the back space of the tackling defenders of the Spanish team and Jon shot through them, deceived the goalkeeper and calmly kicked the ball into the empty goal. It was really a thrilling goal.

Then there were no more goals and the match had a penalty shootout. And Jon succeeded in scoring a good goal again without hesitation.

Referring to her, FIFA said that following Choe Il Son who was awarded the Golden Ball in the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Jon Il Chong made her presence known to the world this time. It can be rightly claimed that her success in the recent World Cup is just the beginning."