Will Bae Joon-ho (21, Stoke) and Lee Young-joon (21, Grashofer), who were born in 2003, who are active in the European stage and are growing their presence, be able to join the national team led by head coach Hong Myung-bo.
South Korea will play the third and fourth rounds of the third qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Korea and China, with Jordan (away) on October 10 and Iraq (home) on October 15. Coach Hong Myung-bo will announce his entry for the two matches on Tuesday.
While there was a lot of disappointment in the performance of the first and second games, which resulted in one win and one draw, in the third and fourth games, coach Hong Myung-bo should reveal his color and catch his performance and results.
To this end, more competitive players must be selected, and young players have been showing good performances in Europe recently, so attention is being paid to whether they will be selected or not.
Lee Young-joon (Grathhofer), who moved to Switzerland after being discharged from military service at Gimcheon Sangmu, is successfully adapting to the European stage, which he is meeting for the first time. He got off to a good start by scoring a goal just 42 seconds after his debut, and also scored a goal in his first full-time game of the season, impressing his fans.
Considering that Cho Kyu-sung (26, Mit Willan) has yet to return from injury and Joo Min-kyu (34, Ulsan) is also a little under-conditioned in his team, Lee Young-joon can bring about a new wind.
Bae Joon-ho, who is in his second season in the English Championship (second division), is also continuously improving.
Bae Joon-ho did not play in the opening game due to injuries early in the season, but he has been consistently replaced since then, and in the sixth round against Hull City, he played his first full-time of the season and recorded one assist.
Coach Hong Myung-bo said at the announcement of the list for the first time since he took the helm in September, “I am fully aware of Bae Jun-ho’s ability. However, since I recently got injured, I checked various things and excluded them,” leaving room for further selection.
South Korea, which is in the third qualifying round for the World Cup, should also produce results to advance to the finals, but at the same time, it should also work on finding young players and changing generations so that it can continue its competitiveness until the 2026 World Cup.
Coach Hong Myung-bo also expressed his philosophy to “make changes while maintaining the existing team operation,” and boldly selected young players such as Yang Min-hyuk (18, Gangwon) and Choi Woo-jin (20, Incheon).
This is why Bae Joon-ho and Lee Young-joon, who are showing good performances on the European stage, are highly likely to be selected.
It is also worth noting that coach João Arroso and coach Thiago Maia checked the two players directly in Europe.
An official from the Korea Football Association (KFA) said, “The two coaches checked not only the players they know, such as Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham) and Kim Min-jae (28, Bayern Munich), but other players playing in Europe,” adding, “In the case of Bae Joon-ho and Lee Young-joon, the two coaches visited the stadium in person to check their conditions and conducted interviews.” 메이저놀이터
Bae Joon-ho and Lee Young-joon are the main players in the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup. Bae first joined the national team in June under interim coach Kim Do-hoon, and scored one goal in two A matches.
Lee Young-joon scored 10 goals in 22 matches and 3 goals in 7 U23 matches for the U20 national team, but has no experience in the A team yet.