Lee Kang-in heads to the World Cup with a 'changed jersey number,' settling on '19' instead of '18'

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Kang-in (25, Paris Saint-Germain) will compete at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean wearing jersey number 19, not 18. Lee Kang-in previously made his first World Cup appearance wearing number 18, but he will now participate in his second World Cup wearing the number he switched to last October.

Lee Kang-in's jersey number for the North American, Central American, and Caribbean World Cup was revealed on the 3rd (Korea time) through the 48th participating teams' player rosters released by FIFA. According to FIFA records, Lee Kang-in has been assigned jersey number 19 for the World Cup. The name marking on the jersey will be 'KANGIN'. Not only Lee Kang-in, but all South Korean national team players will have their English given names marked on their jerseys instead of their surnames.

Lee Kang-in first received jersey number 27 for the A national team in 2019, and his A national team jersey number has changed with each call-up to 13, 6, 19, 20, and others. As he was not a player who consistently made the national team roster, and because the major numbers were already held by senior national team players, it was difficult for him to secure a fixed jersey number in the A national team for some time.

Jersey number 18 began to become Lee Kang-in's established national team number during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Lee Kang-in, who was unexpectedly selected after being overlooked by coach Paulo Bento (Portugal) and headed to Qatar, wore number 18 at the World Cup and played a significant role in helping the team reach the round of 16. Afterward, Lee Kang-in maintained number 18 under coach Jürgen Klinsman (Germany) and also kept number 18 when he participated in the Hangzhou Asian Games with the U23 national team.

Even after coach Hong Myung-bo took charge, Lee Kang-in's jersey number remained largely unchanged at 18, but it finally changed during the two A-match games against Brazil and Paraguay last October. At that time, Lee Kang-in switched from number 18 to number 19. Number 19 was the number Lee Kang-in primarily wore for his professional club teams. He wore number 19 during his time at Mallorca and also wore number 19 at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Until then, the owner of jersey number 19 in the national team was also not clearly defined. In March last year, Oh Se-hoon and Lee Dong-gyeong alternated wearing number 19 during the two A-match games. In June, Oh Hyun-gyu and Oh Se-hoon alternated wearing number 19. During the away matches against the United States and Mexico in September, Oh Hyun-gyu wore number 19. Amidst this, Lee Kang-in chose number 19, not 18, as his new jersey number last October.

Since then, Lee Kang-in has maintained number 19 through the matches against Bolivia and Ghana in November, and against Côte d'Ivoire and Austria in March, and will now step onto the World Cup stage wearing his changed jersey number. Coincidentally, the number 18 that Lee Kang-in wore for a long time has become Oh Hyun-gyu's, his 'peer'. Oh Hyun-gyu accompanied the team as a reserve player during the Qatar World Cup four years ago but ultimately did not play in the tournament. The number he had harbored in his heart while swallowing his regret at that time was precisely number 18. With Lee Kang-in's jersey number change, his friend Oh Hyun-gyu has also realized his dream.

1. Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo)

2. Lee Han-beom (FC Midtjylland)

3. Lee Gi-hyeok (Gangwon FC)

4. Kim Min-jae (FC Bayern Munich)

5. Kim Tae-hyun (Kashima Antlers)

6. Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord Rotterdam)

7. Son Heung-min (LAFC)

8. Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City FC)

9. Cho Gue-sung (FC Midtjylland)

10. Lee Jae-sung (1. FSV Mainz 05)

11. Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)

12. Song Bum-geun (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

13. Lee Tae-seok (FK Austria Wien)

14. Jo Wi-je (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

15. Kim Moon-hwan (Daejeon Hana Citizen)

16. Park Jin-seop (Zhejiang FC)

17. Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City FC)

18. Oh Hyun-gyu (Beşiktaş JK)

19. Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain)

20. Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic FC)

21. Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan HD)

22. Seol Young-woo (FK Crvena Zvezda)

23. Jens Castro (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

24. Kim Jin-kyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

25. Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City AFC)

26. Lee Dong-gyeong (Ulsan HD)

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*This content was translated by AI.