South Korea 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

South Korea 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

Head Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann

No. Pos. Player Date of Birth/Age Caps Goals Club 1 GK Kim Seung-gyu 30 September 1990 (age 33) 80 0 Al-Shabab 12 GK Song Bum-keun 15 October 1997 (age 26) 1 0 Shonan Bellmare 21 GK Jo Hyeon-woo 25 September 1991 (age 32) 24 0 Ulsan HD 2 DF Lee Ki-je 9 July 1991 (age 32) 12 0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3 DF Kim Jin-su 13 June 1992 (age 32) 69 2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4 DF Kim Min-jae 15 November 1996 (age 27) 56 4 Bayern Munich 15 DF Jung Seung-hyun 3 April 1994 (age 29) 20 1 Ulsan HD 19 DF Kim Young-gwon 27 February 1990 (age 33) 104 7 Ulsan HD 22 DF Seol Young-woo 5 December 1990 (age 25) 8 0 Ulsan HD 23 DF Kim Tae-hwan 24 July 1989 (age 34) 25 0 Free Agent 24 DF Kim Ju-sung 12 December 2000 (age 23) 2 0 FC Seoul 25 DF Kim Ji-soo 24 December 2004 (age 19) 0 0 Brentford B 5 MF Park Yong-woo 10 September 1993 (age 30) 8 0 Al-Ain 6 MF Hwang In-beom 20 September 1996 (age 27) 50 5 Red Star Belgrade 7 MF Son Heung-min (captain) 9 July 1992 (age 31) 117 41 Tottenham Hotspur 8 MF Hong Hyun-seok 16 June 1999 (age 24) 5 0 Gent 10 MF Lee Jae-sung 10 August 1992 (age 31) 78 10 Mainz 05 11 MF Hwang Hee-chan 26 January 1996 (age 27) 60 12 Wolverhampton Wanderers 13 MF Lee Soon-min 22 May 1994 (age 29) 4 0 Gwangju FC 14 MF Moon Seon-min 9 June 1992 (age 31) 16 2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 16 MF Park Jin-seop 23 October 1995 (age 28) 1 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 17 MF Jeong Woo-yeong 20 September 1999 (age 24) 16 3 VfB Stuttgart 18 MF Lee Kang-in 19 February 2001 (age 22) 19 4 Paris Saint-Germain 26 MF Yang Hyun-jun 25 May 2002 (age 21) 1 0 Celtic 9 FW Cho Gue-sung 25 January 1998 (age 25) 31 8 Midtjylland 20 FW Oh Hyeon-gyu 12 April 2001 (age 22) 8 0 Celtic

Most Capped Player: Cha Bum-kun & Hong Myun-bo – 136
Top Goalscorer: Cha Bum-Kun – 58

South Korea 2023 Asian Cup Preview

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar will be South Korea’s eighth successive appearance in the tournament and their 15th overall, as they bid to lift the title for just the third time in their history.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s side qualified for this year’s edition of the tournament as second round Group H winners, and thanks to them being 27th in the FIFA World Rankings in April 2023 – they were allocated a position in ‘Pot 1’ for the draw. Subsequently, the Tigers of Asia were drawn into a group with Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain.

They kickstart their campaign on 15 January in Al Rayyan against Bahrain, before heading to Doha to take on Jordan on 20 January, followed by their final group match in Al Wakrah against Malaysia on 25 January.

South Korea Player To Watch

The Koreans boast one of the strongest squads at the tournament, and have a wide array of young talent who are expected to take the reins from Heung-min Son in the years to come. One of those is Paris Saint-Germain youngster Lee Kang-in, and we’ve identified him as the South Korea player to watch at the Asian Cup in Qatar.

After several successful years in La Liga with Valencia and Mallorca where Lee became one of the best dribblers of a ball in Europe, the 22-year-old earned himself a move to the French capital with PSG for €22 million on a five-year deal.

Lee hasn’t quite set Ligue 1 alight as of yet, but he boasts three goals and two assists from 16 appearances thus far this term, including a Champions League goal scored in a 3-0 group stage win over AC Milan.

His goalscoring record for South Korea is a fairly strong one too with four goals in 19 caps, scoring for Klinsmann’s side as recent as November 2023, where he scored the fifth in a 5-0 drubbing of Singapore in World Cup qualifying.