The jersey numbers for South Korea's national football team competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America have been unveiled.
FIFA announced the final squads and jersey numbers for the 48 teams participating in the North American World Cup on Tuesday (Korea time).
The most eye-catching player on the South Korean team is forward Oh Hyeon-gyu (Besiktas). Oh will take to the World Cup stage wearing No. 18, the number he had long dreamed of. During the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Oh failed to make the final roster and accompanied the national team as a "reserve member" without a jersey number. At the time, he drew attention by writing No. 18 in his notebook as his goal. In Korean football, No. 18 is a symbolic number worn by era-defining strikers such as Hwang Sun-hong, Cho Jae-jin and Lee Dong-gook.
Oh has been the standout performer among national team forwards at his club in the first half of this year. After leaving Belgium's Genk in February to join Turkish powerhouse Besiktas, he recorded 8 goals and 2 assists in official matches, including 6 goals and 1 assist in the league. He is currently considered the front-runner in the competition for the lone striker spot in the national team.
"I will do my best to show through actions rather than words, as much as people expect from me," Oh pledged.
"Captain" Son Heung-min (LAFC) will compete in his fourth World Cup wearing his iconic No. 7. Son, who is tied with Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan for the most World Cup goals by a Korean with three, will once again don the No. 7 jersey as he pursues the outright record.
Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) will wear No. 19, the same number he uses at his club, while Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) will wear No. 4 for the second consecutive tournament. Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) was assigned No. 6, Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) No. 11, and veteran midfielder Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) No. 10. Jens Castrop, the team's first foreign-born naturalized player, was assigned No. 23. Cho Wi-je (Jeonbuk), who was called up as a replacement after Cho Yu-min (Sharjah) withdrew due to injury, inherited Cho Yu-min's No. 14.
◇ 2026 North American World Cup South Korea Squad Jersey Numbers (by position)
▲ GK = Song Bum-keun (12, Jeonbuk), Cho Hyun-woo (21, Ulsan), Kim Seung-gyu (30, FC Tokyo)
▲ DF = Lee Han-beom (2, Midtjylland), Kim Min-jae (4, Bayern Munich), Kim Tae-hyeon (5, Kashima), Lee Tae-seok (13, Vienna), Cho Wi-je (14, Jeonbuk), Kim Moon-hwan (15, Daejeon), Park Jin-seop (16, Zhejiang FC), Seol Young-woo (22, Crvena Zvezda), Jens Castrop (23, Borussia Mönchengladbach)
▲ MF = Lee Ki-hyeok (3, Gangwon), Hwang In-beom (6, Feyenoord), Baek Seung-ho (8, Birmingham City), Lee Jae-sung (10, Mainz), Hwang Hee-chan (11, Wolverhampton), Bae Jun-ho (17, Stoke City), Lee Kang-in (19, Paris Saint-Germain), Yang Hyun-jun (20, Celtic), Kim Jin-kyu (24, Jeonbuk Hyundai), Eom Ji-sung (25, Swansea City), Lee Dong-gyeong (26, Ulsan)
▲ FW = Son Heung-min (7, LAFC), Cho Gue-sung (9, Midtjylland), Oh Hyeon-gyu (18, Besiktas)
