  We extract the pion valence quark distribution $q^\pi_{\rm v}(x)$ from
lattice QCD (LQCD) calculated matrix elements of spacelike correlations of one
vector and one axial vector current analyzed in terms of QCD collinear
factorization, using a new short-distance matching coefficient calculated to
one-loop accuracy. We derive the Ioffe time distribution of the two-current
correlations in the physical limit by investigating the finite lattice spacing,
volume, quark mass, and higher-twist dependencies in a simultaneous fit of
matrix elements computed on four gauge ensembles. We find remarkable
consistency between our extracted $q^\pi_{\rm v}(x)$ and that obtained from
experimental data across the entire $x$-range. Further, we demonstrate that the
one-loop matching coefficient relating the LQCD matrix computed in position
space to the $q_{\rm v}^{\pi}(x)$ in momentum space has well-controlled
behavior with Ioffe time. This justifies that LQCD calculated current-current
correlations are good observables for extracting partonic structures by using
QCD factorization, which complements to the global effort to extract partonic
structure from experimental data.
