'Assist in Czech Republic Match' Lee Kang-in, Soaring to 14th Consecutive Week at No. 1 in Star Ranking! 'No. 2' Kim Do-young Defeated Again → Son Heung-min 4th, Lee Jung-hoo 5th

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Kang-in (25, Paris Saint-Germain), who played the full 90 minutes and recorded one assist in the opening Group Stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup against the Czech Republic, has secured the top spot in the Star Sports Men's Star Ranking for an impressive 14 consecutive weeks.

In the 51st Star Ranking Star Sports Men's vote, tallied from 3:01 p.m. on the 11th to 3:00 p.m. on the 18th, Lee Kang-in received 15,566 votes, firmly maintaining his No. 1 position.

Lee Kang-in, who first claimed the top spot in the 38th vote, has not relinquished the lead even once since, proving his overwhelming popularity. In particular, he recently delivered a sharp assist in the opening Group Stage match against the Czech Republic at the 2026 North American World Cup, leading South Korea to victory, and is fully demonstrating his value as the ace of the national team both on and off the field. Adding to this, rumors of a transfer to the prestigious Spanish La Liga club Atlético Madrid (ATM) and interest from FC Barcelona have placed him at the center of intense public attention.

The top five rankings from 2nd to 5th place remained unchanged. Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers), regarded as a top-tier batter in professional baseball (KBO), secured the 2nd place with 8,581 votes. 'Basketball star' Heo Woong (33), who led Busan KCC to a championship in the 2025-2026 season finals, ranked 3rd with 4,680 votes.

Following him, Son Heung-min (34, LAFC), the eternal 'captain' of the South Korean national football team, took 4th place with 2,448 votes, while Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), active in Major League Baseball (MLB), recorded 1,279 votes to claim 5th place.

The Star Ranking is a system where fans directly vote for their favorite star via the StarNews website to determine the rankings. Selected stars based on the voting results receive various special benefits.

Recently, the Star Ranking significantly expanded its candidate pool, fueling a fierce battle among fans. Starting from the 49th vote, five new candidates were added: Oh Hyun-kyu (Besiktas), Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland), and Lee Seung-woo (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) in football, and Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles) and Koo Ja-wook (Samsung Lions) in baseball.

As a result, a total of 20 stars are now engaged in fierce competition, including the existing candidates Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Kim Min-jae, Yang Min-hyuk (all football), Kim Do-young, Yang Hyeon-jong, Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Ha-seong, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-seong (all baseball), Heo Woong, Heo Hoon (both basketball), Heo Su-bong (volleyball), and Woo Sang-hyuk (track and field), along with the newly added candidates.

Meanwhile, the 52nd Star Ranking Men's Sports vote, which will attempt to catch up to Lee Kang-in's dominant position, will be held for one week from 3:01 p.m. on the 18th to 3:00 p.m. on the 25th.

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*This content was translated by AI.