At the 2026 World Cup, the first to be attended by 48 national teams, South Korea will make its 12th appearance at the final tournament, i.e. its 11th consecutive appearance since 1986.
The national team is currently led by Hong Mjunbo, a man who has experienced the World Cup in all possible roles, as a player, assistant coach and selector.
At the 2022 Qatar Championship, South Korea reached the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years, but their journey was halted by a loss to Brazil.
Undefeated in the qualifiers
Despite the bench changes after Qatar, South Korea dominated through the Asian qualifiers, remaining undefeated.
In the second round of the competition, they defeated China, Thailand and Singapore, with only one draw against Thailand (1:1).
In the final stage of the qualification, in a group with Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait, they achieved six victories and four draws, which brought them first place and a safe place in the World Cup.
They were the only Asian team that finished the qualifiers without defeat.
The best result at the World Cup
South Korea achieved its greatest success in history in 2002, when it reached the semi-finals as the host. They opened the tournament with a victory over Poland (2:0), then drew with the USA (1:1), and with a triumph over Portugal (1:0) won placement in the knockout phase.
In the round of 16 against Italy, An Junghwan became a hero after a missed penalty in regular time, scoring the golden goal in extra time for a 2:1 victory.
In the quarter-finals, they eliminated Spain on penalties, before being defeated by Germany (1:0) in the semi-finals. In the end, they took fourth place, after losing to Turkey (3:2), which remains the biggest result in the history of Asian football.
Debut performance at the World Cup
South Korea made its debut at the World Cup back in 1954 in Switzerland, under extremely difficult circumstances.
Less than a year after the end of the Korean War, the national team was facing serious logistical problems – there wasn’t even enough room on the plane for all the players, so some traveled separately on US military aircraft, after a grueling journey of nearly 60 hours.
Top scorers
South Korea’s top scorers at the World Cup are Ahn Junghwan and Hyeon Min Son, with three goals each.
Most of his appearances are in the national jersey
When it comes to the number of appearances, the record is held by coach Hong, who as a player played 16 matches at four World Cups in the period from 1990 to 2002.
South Korea thus comes to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico as a stable and experienced selection, with a clear goal, which is to repeat or surpass its best edition and once again leave a deep mark on the biggest football stage.
At the 2026 World Cup, South Korea is in Group A with Mexico, South Africa and the Czech Republic.
