Except for Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in, Hong Myung-bo-ho, excluding Kim Min-jae, and Jun Jin-woo, who announced the A-match list in June, was selected for the first time

May 26, 2025

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South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo called the best to choose from.

South Korea's national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will prepare for Group B 9-10 in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. South Korea will conclude the third qualifying round by playing Game 9 against Iraq in Basra, Iraq, on the 6th of next month and Game 10 against Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th.

With the final two matches of the third qualifying round, South Korea needs just one point. South Korea, which has four wins and four draws, is at the top of Group B with 16 points. Second-place Jordan is chasing with 13 points and third-place Iraq with 12 points, but it is not expected that there will be any major problems in South Korea's ticket to the World Cup finals. In the third qualifying round, only the second place in the group will be given a World Cup ticket, but South Korea will be confirmed to advance to the World Cup finals if it takes only one point from the remaining two games. The 11th consecutive World Cup qualification and the 12th World Cup finals in history are just around the corner.

The national team is about to win a ticket to the World Cup finals, but the flow of the national team is not very good. This is because they drew 1-1 against Oman and Jordan in the third qualifying round at home in March. There are no victories in three consecutive games, including the draw against Palestine. The level of criticism against Hong Myung-bo, who has not been easy to start with, is increasing.

In response, coach Hong Myung-bo convened the best players to choose from. First, captain Son Heung-min will be selected. Son Heung-min is having the best time of his life by winning the Europa League (UEL), but it is a difficult time in terms of his performance. Due to a foot injury, he was not able to start in the UEL final, and his scoring ability has been very poor recently. On top of that, there are privacy issues.

However, Hong Myung-bo chose Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min also prioritized his sense of responsibility as a captain. Coach Hong Myung-bo communicated after finishing the winning game. It was called because he said there was no big problem with playing the game. It's not something I'm going to be involved in about the elements outside the game. I will be able to move in consideration of the situation and condition of the game"I will manage Son Heung-min and let him play."

Son Heung-min, the core of the attack, was called up, but defensive ace Kim Min-jae could not be called. This is because Kim Min-jae has yet to recover from an Achilles tendon injury he injured in October last year. Coach Hong Myung-bo said, `This game was also not selected because Kim Min-jae was judged to be unable to play. He explained, "He is a player with a sense of responsibility and mission, but I excluded him from this selection because I thought he had enough opportunities in the future."

Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Kang-in, who are having difficulty securing time to play in their teams, were also included in the list. Coach Hong Myung-bo decided that even if the two players did not have enough time to play, they would have enough roles to play in the national team.

Oh Hyun-kyu and Oh Se-hoon were called to compete for the starting lineup of strikers, which is not yet clear. Oh Hyun-kyu is showing a good performance as a substitute resource in Genk, but Oh Se-hoon, who plays in the Japanese J-League, has lost scoring ability with only one league goal this season. Joo Min-kyu, who has a better scoring flow than Oh Se-hoon, was not selected.

Regarding this, " (resident regulation) is not good, so it is not subtracted. He continues to score in his own way. However, when we grasp the weaknesses of the away game opponent this time, we need a speed aspect."

There have also been changes in the side. Jeon Jin-woo, who is having the best season in Jeonbuk Hyundai this season, was selected for the national team for the first time in a long time, and Moon Sun-min, who turned into FC Seoul's charging leader, was called after a long time. Yang Hyun-jun, who is raising his stock price at Celtic, also got another opportunity.

Coach Hong Myung-bo said of Jeon Jin-woo, `I felt confident not only in scoring but also in playing. At the beginning of the season, there were many cases of one-on-one plays on the side. These days, I think I'm good at playing in my pocket, too. It's similar to how the national team does it, so I expect the national team to do well without any major problems."

There is not much change in the midfield and defense. Hwang In-beom and Park Yong-woo systems are expected to be maintained this June, and the defense must find a player to fill Kim Min-jae's void. Lee Han-beom, who recently became the main player in Meat Willan, Denmark, has a chance to debut.

◇2026 North Korea-China World Cup 3rd Asian qualifying round 9-10 (26 players)

▶GK = Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan HD), Kim Dong-heon (Kim Cheon Sang-moo), Lee Chang-geun (Daejeon Hana Citizen)

▶DF = Cho Yoo-min (Sharja FC), Kwon Kyung-won (Corpacan Club) Lee Han-beom (FC Mit Willan), Choi Joon Kim Joo-sung (FC Seoul), Seol Young-woo (Trvena Zvezda), Park Seung-wook and Cho Hyun-taek (Kimcheon) Lee Tae-seok (Pohang Steelers)

▶MF = Park Yong-woo (Al Ain), Park Jin-seop, Kim Jin-gyu, Jeon Jin-woo (North Jeolla Hyundai), Won Doo-jae (Corpacan Club), Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Moon Sun-min (FC Seoul), Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic FC) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain)

▶FW = Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) Oh Se-hoon (Machida Gelbia)

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.