Cha Bum-keun → Hong Myung-bo → Park Ji-sung → Son Heung-min, who is proud of the world's only 12th-ranked Son, will advance to the World Cup for the 12th time

Nov 19, 2025

Cha Bum-keun → Hong Myung-bo → Park Ji-sung → Son Heung-min, who is proud of the world's only 12th-ranked Son, will advance to the World Cup for the 12th time
A match warm-up match between South Korea and Ghana at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 18th. Son Heung-min is greeting his fans after the game. Sangam = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.11.18/



The South Korean national soccer team once again proved its special position in the history of the World Cup.

On the 19th (Korea time), soccer statistics media Transfermark shed light on which country has advanced to the World Cup finals the most in the history of the World Cup. It revealed the first to 15th place in all time.

Next year's 2026 FIFA North American World Cup will be the 23rd World Cup in history. Brazil was the only country that attended every single time. Germany (21 times), Argentina (19 times), Italy and Mexico (18 times).




South Korea was the only country in Asia to be ranked. South Korea has advanced to a total of 12 World Cup finals so far, including the trip to the North American World Cup finals. This is a record that goes beyond simply being on the high side in Asia and is also at the top of the world. It is on par with countries traditionally regarded as a soccer powerhouse, such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, and Sweden. This is a representative result of the steady growth of Korean soccer.
Cha Bum-keun → Hong Myung-bo → Park Ji-sung → Son Heung-min, who is proud of the world's only 12th-ranked Son, will advance to the World Cup for the 12th time
Photo=Transfermarkt
One of the records proving this is the historical record of advancing to the finals for 11 consecutive times from the 1986 World Cup in Mexico to the 2026 North American World Cup. The number of World Cup participants has increased to 48 from the upcoming North Korea-China World Cup, making it easier to advance to the World Cup finals in Asia, but the difficulty of advancing to the World Cup until the 2022 Qatar World Cup was quite high.

South Korea has often been on the verge of going to the World Cup finals, but it has not collapsed every time of the crisis, and is continuing its great effort to advance to the finals for the 11th consecutive time. Korea's first advance to the World Cup was to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Now, Korea has established itself as a representative country in Asia and even a traditional participant in the World Cup. Compared to the next country, Japan, the 2026 World Cup is the eighth World Cup in history. The gap with Korea is quite wide.
Cha Bum-keun → Hong Myung-bo → Park Ji-sung → Son Heung-min, who is proud of the world's only 12th-ranked Son, will advance to the World Cup for the 12th time
A match warm-up match between South Korea and Ghana at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 18th. Son Heung-min is trying to break through. Sangam = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.11.18/
These records have special meaning for the players as well. Son Heung-min is also proud of South Korea's record of consecutive World Cup appearances. Ahead of the match against Ghana, Son Heung-min "There are only a few teams around the world who have played in 11 consecutive World Cups. It is a great thing as a soccer player to go to the soccer festival 11 times in a row. I learned so much from the national team and my team this year. I'm looking forward to next year's World Cup and season even more."

Not only that, but Korea also has another Asia's first history at the World Cup. It is the only country that has advanced to the quarterfinals or higher. It may feel like a broken record one day, but Korea shocked the world of soccer when it reached the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan. He made history by advancing by beating Portugal, Italy and Spain one after another.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.