On September 26, South Korea defeated Japan 5-2 in the fighting game esports final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Sky Expo. Despite falling behind 1-2 in set score, South Korea turned the match around by taking four consecutive sets.
Japan took the early lead. In Set 1's Street Fighter 6, Yeon "DakCorgi" Je-gil pushed Kojiro "Higuchi" Higuchi all the way to the final game. In the first game, Yeon needed only a single light attack to win, but allowed a comeback against Guile's counter. Yeon bounced back to take the second game, but lost the deciding game, giving Japan the first point.
South Korea immediately restored balance through Lee "MadKoF" Gwang-no in KOF XV. Lee dropped one game to Akihito "SCORE" Sawada, but shifted the offensive momentum by bringing out Najd in the final game. Sweeping through the opponent's characters in succession, Lee secured the victory to tie the set score at 1-1.
In Set 3's Tekken 8, Bae "KNEE" Jae-min took the first game 3-0, but suffered a comeback defeat against Daichi "NOBI" Nakayama's Dragunov. In the final game, Bae also picked Dragunov for a mirror match, but lost 0-3. With Japan going back ahead 2-1, South Korea came under pressure first.
It was Lee who rescued South Korea once again. Having gained the title pick advantage following the Set 3 loss, South Korea predictably chose KOF XV for Set 4. Lee took care of his second set with steady, rock-solid play, bringing the match back to 2-2.
The turning point of the final came in Set 5's Tekken 8. Japan fielded Nakayama again following his earlier victory, but this time Bae secured the win utilizing Bryan and Fahkumram. With Bae immediately making adjustments after his earlier Tekken 8 loss, South Korea surged ahead 3-2 to take the lead for the first time.
The decisive blow was delivered by Yeon. Facing Higuchi once more in Set 6, Yeon absorbed his opponent's aggressive moves with greater composure than in their first matchup. While he had allowed a counterattack in their earlier game by rushing to finish, Yeon did not repeat the same mistake in the rematch. Avenging his loss in Street Fighter 6—where South Korea was considered at a disadvantage—Yeon pushed South Korea ahead 4-2.
The final touch belonged to Bae. Japan selected Tekken 8 for Set 7, but Bae, playing Bryan, defeated Nakayama's Dragunov 3-2 before completely overpowering his Steve 3-0. A series of perfectly timed counters froze Nakayama's offense in its tracks.
Lee kept South Korea anchored by capturing two sets in KOF XV. Bae overcame his initial defeat to deliver two critical Tekken 8 sets, while Yeon produced a pivotal victory in Street Fighter 6, the game where South Korea was expected to face the toughest odds.
With consecutive counterstrikes from all three players, South Korea overturned a 1-2 deficit into a 5-2 triumph. They completely settled the score for their two previous losses to Japan at ECA 2026 on the biggest stage of all—the Asian Games final.
