# Who is the best player in South Korea national team history?

> From the 2002 World Cup semi-final fairytale to a new generation of Premier League stars, South Korea has consistently punched above its weight on the global stage. Who is the greatest Taeguk Warrior?

*By YPB Team · Published May 22, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-player-in-south-korea-national-team-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Son Heung-min**
   Tottenham Hotspur's captain and South Korea's greatest modern player, a prolific winger-forward who won the Premier League Golden Boot and is among the world's best at his position.
2. **Park Ji-sung**
   Indefatigable, three-lunged midfielder who became the first Asian player to win the Champions League with Manchester United, famed for his tireless pressing and decisive big-game goals.
3. **Cha Bum-kun**
   South Korea's first global superstar, a dynamic attacker who starred in the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in the 1970s-80s, still revered as the country's greatest ever.
4. **Hong Myung-bo**
   Technically elegant libero and four-time World Cup participant who was named Asia's best player and is the emblematic figure of South Korean football's 2002 golden generation.
5. **Lee Woon-jae**
   Commanding, reliable goalkeeper and long-serving captain who starred at the 2002 World Cup and maintained elite performance across 132 international appearances.
6. **Lee Young-pyo**
   Reliable, attack-minded left-back who was a key member of the 2002 World Cup squad and later starred in the Premier League at Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven.
7. **Seol Ki-hyeon**
   Industrious, technically sound forward who played at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Reading and scored South Korea's historic late equalizer against Portugal at the 2002 World Cup.
8. **Hwang Ui-jo**
   Powerful, clinical centre-forward who became South Korea's second-highest scorer, thriving at Nottingham Forest and other European clubs while carrying the national team's attacking burden.
9. **Lee Chun-soo**
   Exceptionally gifted, technically brilliant winger who was South Korea's most creative player of the mid-2000s, capable of defeating opponents with breathtaking skill on either flank.
10. **Hwang Hee-chan**
   Dynamic, hardworking forward who scored the winner against Portugal at the 2022 World Cup to seal South Korea's knockout qualification in one of the tournament's most dramatic moments.
11. **Kim Min-jae**
   Physically dominant, technically superb centre-back who moved from Napoli to Bayern Munich and is widely considered one of the best defenders in the world in the modern era.
12. **Cho Gue-sung**
   Clinical, powerful striker who became a viral star at the 2022 World Cup with his two headers against Ghana, rising to become one of South Korea's most effective modern forwards.
13. **Lee Dong-gook**
   South Korea's all-time leading scorer, a prolific centre-forward with an outstanding goalscoring record across multiple World Cups and Asian Cup tournaments.

Tags: sports, football, players, south korea, legends, national teams