As Son Heung-min walked into the field on Friday against Czechia at Estadio Guadalajara in the ongoing FIFA World cup 2026, the South Korean footballer officially featured at four editions of the World Cup. A pivotal figure in South Korean football, Heung-min has been the nation's talisman for over a decade with with 144 caps to his name.
The next in line is Lee Jae-Sung with 105 caps. The 33-year-old, who will grow a year older in July, made his World Cup debut in 2014 in Brazil. He also played in 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar. Currently playing for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer (MLC), Heung-min is just two shy of South Korea's all-time scoring record of 58 goals.
Former footballer Cha Bum-kun is just ahead of Heung-min. Not just that, Heung-min is also chasing to be South Korea's all-time top goal-scorer at FIFA World Cups. With three goals to his name, Heung-min is currently tied with Ahn Jung-hwan. A goal in this edition will take him to the top.
Heung-min's World Cup goals came against Algeria (in 2014), Mexico (2018) and Germany (2018).
All you need to know about Son Heung-min
Born in Chuncheon, South Korea, football runs Heung-min household. His father Son Woong-jung played football for South Korean national B team. Heung-min's formative years in the game happened to be in FC Seoul academy. However, he decided to move to Germany to fulfill of his dream of playing at the top level and joined Hamburger SV at the age of 16.
Having made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburger SV in 2010, Heung-min moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013, before joining Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in 2015. At Tottenham, Heung-min established himself as one of the best forwards globally and for the club.
During his time with Spurs, Heung-min helped the club reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2018-19 and EFL Cup final in 2020-21. He was also awarded the FIFA Puskás Award in 2019-20. He became the first Asian player to win the Premier League Golden Boot in 2021-22 with 23 goals. A season later, Heung-min became the first Asian to 100 Premier League goals.
In fact, it was under the leadership of Heung-min, that Tottenham ended their 17-year trophy drought, winning the 2025 UEFA Europa League.
Son Heung-min misses big as Korea rally to win
It wasn't Heung-min's day at at Estadio Guadalajara as the South Korean talisman missed many despite his team's com-from-behind 2-1 win against Czechia. Heung-min's first real chance came in 38th minute when his shot went over the cross bar. A minute later, Heung-Min's shot from outside the box went side of the left post.
That wasn't all. Heung-Min's wayward attempts at the goal continued as he received a terrific pass during the first-half injury time with only opposition goalie to beat. However, his shot off the target, much to Czechia's relief.
Although Heung-min came up with a much-improved display in the second half, but was denied by Czechia goalkeeper Matej Kovar on 58 and 61 minutes. Meanwhile, it was Hwang In-Beom and Oh Hyeon-Gyu goals that gave South Korea a comeback win in their campaign opener.
Ladislav Krejci broke the deadlock on 59 minutes for Czechia only to see the lead cancelled by In-Beom eight minutes later. Hyeon-Gyu scored the winner with 10 minutes before the final whistle.