*This content was translated by AI.
The construction of the main attack team of the South Korean national soccer team, which will be operated at the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, seems to have been virtually completed. Son Heung-min (Los Angeles FC), who was on the front line not only in his team but also in the national team recently, will move to the side, and Oh Hyun-kyu (Besiktashi JK) will play a one-top role instead.
There is no doubt that Oh Hyun-kyu is the steepest among the current national team offensive resources. After moving to Besiktashi JK (Turkiye) after leaving KRC Genk (Belgium), he has four goals and one assist in five official matches. There was only one scoreless game, and all four other games had a goal. Son Heung-min, whose season has just begun, has also scored one goal and five assists in four games, but Oh Hyun-kyu is rather superior in scoring performance indicators.
In the meantime, Son Heung-min's backup role is now confidently enough to be the main player of the national team. After entering a full-fledged World Cup preparation mode after the actual World Cup qualifying round, Oh Hyun-kyu started only two of the last six A matches. He was substituted in three games and missed one game. On the other hand, Son Heung-min played as a one-top starter in four games during the same period. Given that most of the matches were replaced by Son Heung-min and Oh Hyun-kyu, Oh's position so far has been "Son Heung-min's backup."
However, looking at Oh Hyun-kyu's recent trend, it is regrettable to use it as a backup for the national team. It is evaluated that "the water has risen" from diligent movements to concentration at the gate and bold shooting ability in the front line, including unique forward pressure. There are still many variables as there are nearly 100 days left before the World Cup, but if it can maintain a certain upward trend, it is worth expecting the main role of the national team, not the Joker who will be deployed in the second half instead of Son Heung-min.
That doesn't mean Son Heung-min doesn't have a place to stand. Coach Hong Myung-bo has even hinted at the possibility of using Son Heung-min as a Joker, but the "best" is still a starting player. If Oh Hyun-kyu plays one-top, Son Heung-min can be placed on the left side instead. Son Heung-min played for the longest time as a player, so it is also the most familiar position. Even if it is not the speed of Choi Sung-ki, the movements shown in his team's games are still showing an extraordinary class. In the first place, he is not the type of player who only stays on the side along the side line, so it is difficult to give up the one-top position and move to the side instead of Oh Hyun-kyu.
Following Son Heung-min and Oh Hyun-kyu, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) seems to have firmly settled on the right side on the other side. It is a different type from the previous Son Heung-min and Oh Hyun-kyu, which can add creativity to the development of Hong Myung-bo Team's offense. Coach Hong Myung-bo has already set up a starting offense with a combination of Son Heung-min, Oh Hyun-kyu, and Lee Kang-in in the match against Ghana, which was the last A match last year. During the away match in Mexico in September, Son Heung-min was deployed as a substitute in the second half, and the same type of offense took place, showing sufficient competitiveness.
2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup's offense team is expected to be composed of Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) and Cho Kyu-sung (Mit Willan) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz 05) as backup, and some domestic players such as Um Ji-sung (Swansea City) and Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) or Lee Dong-kyung (Ulsan HD). Depending on how they show their respective teams before the World Cup, their fate on board the World Cup may change.
Son Heung-min, Oh Hyun-kyu, and Lee Kang-in, who will be the "complete body" of Hong Myung-bo Team's strikers, are expected to be tested in earnest by utilizing the March A match period, which will lead to Ivory Coast (neutral) and Austria (away). Coach Hong Myung-bo will hold a press conference at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do on the 16th and announce the list of the A-match warm-up matches in March, before departing on the 23rd. The match against Ivory Coast will be held at 11 p.m. on the 28th (Korea Standard Time) and the match against Austria at 3:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month.
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*This content was translated by AI.
