South Korea squad World Cup 2026: Hong Myung-bo's final 26-man selection (original) (raw)

South Korea World Cup 2026 squad: Son Heung-min playing for South Korea

Son Heung-min playing for South Korea (Image credit: Getty Images)

The South Korea World Cup 2026 squad has been named ahead of an 11th consecutive competition.

In qualifying for World Cup 2026, the Taegeuk Warriors were unbeaten with six wins and four draws – and though they won't be favourites in North America this summer, they have one of the more experienced squads in the tournament.

All-time record appearance-maker and talismanic captain Son Heung-min heads to the tournament knowing the climate well as a Major League Soccer player: he needs just four more goals to equal Cha Bum-kun's goal record, and could do so this summer.

Son is just one of a handful of huge figures from this side, though, with 35-year-old Kim Seung-gyu in goal, Bayern Munich stalwart Kin Min-jae leading the backline, and midfielder Lee Jae-sung having turned 33 and reached 100 caps, too.

Aside from Son's excellence in attack, Hwang Hee-chan will be recognisable to Premier League audiences, and Lee Kang-in is a dangerous forward: they're underdogs for sure, but there's no reason they can't turn back the clock and spring a shock on the world.

South Korea have surprised us all before, after all: 2002 was the adventure of a lifetime, when the co-hosts got all the way to the semi-finals (though with some controversial decisions along the way).

Now led by a legend of that side, Hong Myung-bo, back for a second shot as boss, this team will be looking to get out of a group with no obvious superstar side and see if how far they go this time.

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Squad

South Korea World Cup 2026 squad: The final selection

Fixtures and results

Fixtures

Recent results

Manager

Who is South Korea's manager?

Hong Myung-bo, manager of South Korea

Hong Myung-bo, manager of South Korea (Image credit: Getty Images)

Hong Myung-bo comes with some serious pedigree. he became the first Asian player ever to appear in four consecutive World Cups, playing in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.

In 2002, his final World Cup, he was captain on home soil as South Korea reached the semi-finals, eventually finishing fourth. He was named the third best player of the tournament, the first Asian to be named amongst the top players of a World Cup.

Pele, yes the Pele, named him in his FIFA 100, a list of the 125 best living players in 2004. (Yes, we know it doesn't quite add up, but we'll let it slide, it's Pele. Pele!)

Hong had a previous spell in charge of the national team, and unsuccessful campaign in the 2014 World Cup. His second spell has been more successful, with South Korea not losing a game in qualifying under his stewardship.

Star player

Who is South Korea's star player?

Son Hueng-min is provided with a shirt to celebrate becoming the all-time leading appearance maker for the South Korean national side

Son Hueng-min is provided with a shirt to celebrate becoming the all-time leading appearance maker for the South Korean national side (Image credit: Getty Images)

His last season in England was underwhelming by his standards, but Son Heung-min is undoubtedly South Korea's star man. He is ranked at No.3 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League wingers of all time, and ranked at no.35 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Premier League players of all time.

Son is the most capped player for the South Korean national team, and is only four goals off being top scorer.

He is now backed by some exciting talents, with Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in playing regularly for Bayern Munich and South Korea respectively. There's a chance they could be a dark horse heading to north America.

Best XI

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.