Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who won the national flag in two months after overcoming a thigh injury, smiled brightly and performed a “click ceremony.”
Son Heung-min started as a left winger in an away match against Kuwait in Group B of the third preliminary round of the 2026 North-China World Cup Asia at Jabeur Al Ahmed International Stadium in Kuwait City, Kuwait’s capital, on the 14th (Korea time) and shook the net as a penalty kicker he earned himself in the 19th minute of the first half when his team led 1-0.
Earlier, Lee Jae-sung caught the ball in front of the penalty box after passing through the feet of Park Yong-woo and Hwang In-beom, and quickly connected it to Son, who penetrated into the back space of the defense. Son was tripped over by opponent defender Sami Al Sanaea. The referee declared the penalty. Son scored with a low and fast shot to the left corner of the opponent’s goal.
Having played his 130th A-match game on the day, Son scored his 50th goal by scoring a goal. He now ranks second in the A-match scoring category with current Daejeon coach Hwang Sun-hong (50 goals). The former Suwon manager Cha Bum-keun has 58 goals at the top. In the A-match record, Son ranks fourth after Cha Bum-keun and Hong Myung-bo (136 games) and Lee Woon-jae (133 games).
Son Heung-min once broke various records of his senior year in the big league, breaking the most goals scored in Asian European history held by Cha Bum-keun (121 goals) in the UEFA Champions League match against Tsvezda (Serbia) on November 7, 2019.
Already, he is poised to surpass Cha Boom’s status as a big leaguer and also a member of the national team. If he participates in seven matches and scores more than nine goals, he will rank No. 1 in the A-match as a Korean male player.
Having failed to play in the third and fourth games against Jordan (2-0 away) and Iraq (3-2 home) due to injury last month, Son returned to the starting lineup on the day and displayed good teamwork as usual. However, Son has been managing playing time in his team recently. Coach Anze Postecoglou has not had him play full time lately due to concerns over recurrence of his injury. He has allowed all time only in the last game before joining the national team.
Coach Hong Myung-bo, the head of the Korean national team, also communicated with Son Heung-min with that in mind. The Korean team tried to adjust the playing time out of mutual trust. Coincidentally, the team led 2-0 in the first half of the day, but allowed its opponent to score a chasing goal in the 15th minute of the second half. Considering the current state of the game, Hong made changes to the left-hand side lines of Son and Lee Myung-jae. As you can see, Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), who replaced Son, was responsible for the net shot in the 28th minute of the second half. Both Son and Hong had good laughs. 메이저놀이터
Son Heung-min, who assisted the final shot and Joo Min-kyu’s net shot at the end of the second half in the away match (3-1 win) against Oman on September 10, announced his robustness by taking charge of the final shot in two consecutive A matches. Amid the continued performance of young European players, Hong is happy to think about the harmony between the old and new.
“I want to thank my teammates and the coaches for scoring so many goals and receiving so many opportunities. I came back (to the national team) and the players helped me to score goals,” Son said in a broadcast interview right after the match. “I’m grateful that my team and the national team are showing interest and protection. Now I’m in such good shape and I’m back to my normal condition. I hope I can show 100 percent of my performance in the next match.”