Son Heung-min tries to perform at the FIFA Club World Cup! The first official start of the new year... '12 League Championship' Faces Honduras' Strongest

*This content was translated by AI.

Los Angeles FC's flagship striker Son Heung-min (34) has been confirmed to play in his first official game of the new year in 2026.

Son Heung-min's team LAFC will face Real España (Honduras) in the first round of the 2026 season's North-China Caribbean Football Association (CONCACAF) Champions Cup at Francisco Morasan Stadium in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, at 12 p.m. on the 18th (Korea time).

Son Heung-min, who took the ace position in his first U.S. stage challenge last year, will start LAFC's first official game in 2026.

Son Heung-min will hit the central striker in a 4-3-3 formation against Real Spain. Dennis Buanga and David Martinez are on both wings.

Marco Delgado, Timothy Tillman and Stephen Eustachio will play in the midfield. Sergiy Palencia, Nkosi Tapari, Ryan Porteous and Eddie Segura are in charge of the four-back, while Hugo Lloris is in charge of the goal.

The North American Caribbean Football Confederation Champions Cup is a club competition that boasts the highest authority in North and Central America. The winning team will be eligible to participate in the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup. A total of 27 teams from the United States, Mexico and Honduras will participate in the home-and-away tournament.

If LAFC wins the first and second games, it will meet Costa Rica's powerhouse Alahuelense in the round of 16.

Son Heung-min, who wore an LAFC uniform last season, showed a phenomenal performance right after joining the team. Including nine goals and three assists in 10 regular league games and the playoffs, he showed off his overwhelming goal-scoring ability with 12 goals and four assists in 13 games. In fact, since joining Son Heung-min, LAFC has gained nine wins, four draws, and two losses, boosting its ranking to third place in the Western Conference.

Synergy with colleagues was also unrivaled. Striker Buanga and his team have rewritten the history of the Major League Soccer (MLS). Since joining Son Heung-min, the two players have combined for 18 consecutive goals, breaking the league's record for the most consecutive goals scored. Major local media such as "One Football" praised Son Heung-min, saying, "He didn't need a long time to prove himself to match the record fee," adding, "It's much more impressive that he raised the value of his colleagues around him to the next level than just the record that appears in numbers."

The destructive power of box office outside the ground was also beyond imagination. According to LAFC general manager John Torrington, Son Heung-min's uniform was counted as the most sold uniform in the world in the week after the transfer. The highest transfer fee in league history of $26.5 million (about 35 billion won) has achieved a considerable value.

Starting with the Honduran expedition, LAFC is facing a hell of a schedule. After playing the league's opening game against Inter Miami on the 22nd, he must immediately continue his second match of the Champions Cup against Real Spain on the 25th.

The opposing team, Real Spain, is a traditional powerhouse with a record of 12 Honduran league wins. In the last six league games, he has been undefeated with four wins and two draws, leading the league alone.

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*This content was translated by AI.