South Korea's national football team, preparing for the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America, has been placed under an injury alert ahead of the tournament.
According to the national team on Tuesday, the only player currently sidelined by injury is midfielder Bae Jun-ho (left ankle).
Lee Tae-seok, who had suffered a left calf injury, returned to normal team training that day, leaving Bae Jun-ho as the only player on Hong Myung-bo's injury list.
Bae Jun-ho injured his left ankle during a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 31, after a deep tackle from an opponent. While the injury is reportedly not serious, his absence from team training for three consecutive days has made his appearance in the group-stage opener against the Czech Republic practically unlikely.
The national team, which had to release defender Cho Yu-min (Sharjah)—who suffered a serious injury in the same match—and call up Cho Wi-je (Jeonbuk) as a replacement, plans to devote its full efforts to player conditioning programs to prevent further injuries before the tournament begins.
Other participating nations are also struggling with injuries. Brazil lost defender Wesley to injury in a friendly against Egypt on Saturday. Wesley, who has been a regular for AS Roma in Italy's Serie A this season and earned a place in the national squad, has now missed the chance to play in his first-ever World Cup due to the unexpected injury. His place will be taken by Ederson (Atalanta).
Germany also called up Assan Ouedraogo (Leipzig) to replace Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), who suffered a thigh injury.
Nations are focusing on managing injuries before the tournament because finding a replacement is not easy if a player gets hurt now. Under Article 24, Paragraph 2 of FIFA's 2026 World Cup regulations, if a player on the final squad suffers a serious injury or illness, they can only be replaced up to 24 hours before the team's first match of the tournament. The replacement player can be chosen from the preliminary list of up to 55 players previously submitted.
However, if a player is injured after the regulated time, the team must complete the entire tournament with its remaining members. The World Cup is played on a tighter schedule than other competitions. In such circumstances, losing even a single available player can serve as a fatal disadvantage in competition with other teams.
