South Korea national football team

The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in men's international football and is governed by the Korea Football Association, a member of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia since the 1980s, having participated in ten consecutive and eleven overall FIFA World Cup tournaments, the most for any Asian country. Despite initially going through five World Cup tournaments without winning a match, South Korea became the first (and so far only) Asian team to reach the semi-finals when they co-hosted the 2002 tournament with Japan. South Korea also has won two AFC Asian Cup titles, and finished as runners-up on four occasions. Furthermore, the team won three gold medals and three silver medals at the senior Asian Games.

The team is commonly nicknamed the "Reds" by both fans and the media due to the color of their primary kit. The national team's supporting group is officially referred to as the Red Devils.

History

Team image

Nicknames

The South Korea national football team has been known or nicknamed as the Taegeuk Warriors () and the Tigers of Asia ().

Kits and crest

Red is the traditional shirt color of the South Korean national team, who are consequently nicknamed the "Reds", while the fans are called the "Red Devils". The away shirt has varied between white and blue. In 1994, the home shirt shifted from red to white, but in October 1995, red returned as the home color, paired with black shorts.

South Korea used to wear the country's flag as their shirt badge until 2001, when their tiger crest was unveiled. On 5 February 2020, the KFA announced a new, more simplistic logo. The emblem retained the tiger, albeit in a more minimalist design, enclosed in a rectangular frame.

| align="center"| (Weekend)

| align="center"|1987–1995

| Signed a long-term contract with Weekend (renamed Rapido in January 1988) in 1987.

| align="center"|Nike

| align="center"|1996–present

| Contracted at the end of 1995, and sponsored since 1 January 1996.

Kit deals

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"

! Kit supplier

! Period

! Contract date

! Contract duration

! Total

! Annual

! Ref.

| align="center" rowspan="6"| Nike

| align="center" rowspan="6"| 1996–present

| align="center"|1996–1997

| align="right"|$3 million

| align="right"|$1.5 million

| align="left"|

| align="center"|16 December 1997

| align="center"|1998–2002

| align="right"|$38 million

| align="right"|$7.6 million

| align="left"|

| align="center"|9 January 2003

| align="center"|2003–2007

| align="right"|$50 million

| align="right"|$10.0 million

| align="left"|

| align="center"|23 October 2007

| align="center"|2008–2011

| align="right"|$49 million

| align="right"|$12.3 million

| align="left"|

| align="center"|13 January 2012

| align="center"|2012–2019

| align="right"|$120 million

| align="right"|$15.0 million

| align="left"|

| align="center"|2020–2031

| align="right"|$204 million

| align="right"|$17.0 million

| align="left"|

Home stadium

The South Korea national team played their first home match at the Dongdaemun Stadium on 21 April 1956. The match was a qualifier for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup against the Philippines. They currently play their home matches at several stadiums, which are also used by K League clubs.

Rivalries

South Korea's biggest rival is Japan. The rivalry is an extension of a competitive rivalry between the two nations that goes beyond football, and some matches in the past have been tainted with controversy. South Korea leads the all-time series with 42 wins, 23 draws and 17 losses. The two nations have played against each other officially since 1958, totalling 33 matches as of March 2022, including eleven World Cup qualifiers. Although the teams played against each other only once in the final match of the Asian Cup, in 1972, they have faced each other five consecutive times in the quarter-finals between 1996 and 2011, with each team recording two wins, two losses, and a draw. Iran leads the all-time series with 13 wins, 10 draws and 10 losses. including the 2015 final, where Australia won 2–1 after extra time for their first ever Asian championship.

South Korea has had great success against China, as China failed to beat them in competitive matches for 32 years before finally winning in 2010. They also possess a strong rivalry with North Korea, though matches are infrequent due to diplomatic and security reasons.

Supporters

The official supporter group of the national team, the Red Devils, were founded in 1995. Known for their passionate support, they are commonly referred to as the 12th man.

The FIFA Fan Fest was introduced at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea.

All-time results

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Results by decade

! width="120"|Year

! width="40" |

! width="60" |

! width="60" |Matches

|1948–1959

|Matches

|1960–1969

|Matches

|1970–1979

|Matches

|1980–1989

|Matches

|1990–1999

|Matches

|2000–2009

|Matches

|2010–2019

|Matches

|2020–present

|Matches

!Total

!—

Coaching staff

{|class="wikitable"

|+Current coaching staff

!style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#EC0F32"|Position

!style="color:#FFFFFF;background:#EC0F32"|Name

|Head coach

| Hong Myung-bo

|Assistant coach

| João Aroso

|Tactical coach

| Tiago Maia

|Coaches

| Kim Dong-jin<hr /> Kim Jin-kyu

|Goalkeeping coach

| Pedro Roma

|Fitness coaches

| Lee Jae-hong<hr /> Nuno Matias

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and for the friendly matches against Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador on 30 May and 3 June 2026, respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 30 May 2026, after the match against Trinidad and Tobago.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the South Korea squad within the last twelve months.

;Notes

INJ = Withdrew due to injury
PRE = Preliminary squad

Hall of Fame

The following players were inducted into the official Hall of Fame.

Individual records

Players in bold are still active with South Korea.

Most appearances

thumb|200px|[[Son Heung-min is South Korea's most-capped player with 143 appearances.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width="30"|Rank

!width="150"|Player

!width="50"|Caps

!width="50"|Goals

!width="100"|Career

|align="left"|Son Heung-min

|143

|56

|2010–present

|rowspan="2"|2

|align="left"|Cha Bum-kun

|136

|58

|align="left"|Hong Myung-bo

|136

|10

|1990–2002

|align="left"|Lee Woon-jae

|133

|1994–2010

|align="left"|Lee Young-pyo

|127

|1999–2011

|align="left"|Kim Ho-kon

|124

|1971–1979

|align="left"|Yoo Sang-chul

|122

|18

|1994–2005

|align="left"|Cho Young-jeung

|113

|1975–1986

|align="left"|Kim Young-gwon

|112

|2010–2024

|10

|align="left"|Ki Sung-yueng

|110

|10

|2008–2019

Top goalscorers

thumb|200px|[[Cha Bum-kun is South Korea's top goalscorer with 58 goals.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width="30"|Rank

!width="150"|Player

!width="50"|Goals

!width="50"|Caps

!width="50"|Ratio

!width="100"|Career

|align="left"|Cha Bum-kun

|58

|136

|align="left"|Son Heung-min

|56

|143

|2010–present

|align="left"|Hwang Sun-hong

|50

|103

|1988–2002

|align="left"|Park Lee-chun

|36

|89

|1969–1974

|rowspan="2"|5

|align="left"|Kim Jae-han

|33

|57

|1972–1979

|align="left"|Lee Dong-gook

|33

|105

|1998–2017

|align="left"|Choi Soon-ho

|30

|103

|1980–1991

|rowspan="2"|8

|align="left"|Kim Do-hoon

|29

|72

|1994–2003

|align="left"|Huh Jung-moo

|29

|84

|1974–1986

|rowspan="3"|10

|align="left"|Choi Yong-soo

|27

|67

|1995–2003

|align="left"|Lee Tae-ho

|27

|72

|1980–1991

|align="left"|Kim Jin-kook

|27

|94

|1972–1978

Competitive record

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Tournament played on home soil

FIFA World Cup

Summer Olympics

:Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan="9" |Summer Olympics record

! style="width:1" rowspan="17"|

!colspan=6|Qualification record

! width="180" |Year

! width="120" |Round

! width="30" |

! width="60" |Squad

! width="30" |

|1900 to 1908

| colspan="8" |Part of the Korean Empire

|colspan="6"|Part of the Korean Empire

|1912 to 1936

| colspan="8" |Part of Japan

|colspan="6"|Part of Japan

| 1948||Quarter-finals||2||1||0||1||5||15

|Squad

|colspan=6|Directly qualified

| 1952|| colspan="8" |Did not enter

|colspan=6|Did not enter

| 1956|| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify

|2||1||0||1||2||2

| 1960

|4||2||0||2||4||4

| 1964||Group stage||3||0||0||3||1||20

|Squad

|4||2||1||1||7||4

| 1968|| colspan="8" rowspan="5" |Did not qualify

|5||4||1||0||17||5

| 1972

|4||3||0||1||16||2

| 1976

|6||3||2||1||10||5

| 1980

|6||4||0||2||16||6

| 1984

|11||5||3||3||19||11

|style="border: 3px solid red" | 1988||Group stage||3||0||2||1||1||2

|Squad

|colspan=6|Qualified as hosts

|1992 to present

| colspan="8" |Entered with the under-23 team

|colspan=6|Entered with the under-23 team

!Total||||8||1||2||5||7||37

!42||24||7||11||91||39

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Games

:Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan="9" |Asian Games record

! width="180" |Year

! width="120" |Round

! width="30" |

! width="60" |Squad

| 1951|| colspan="8" |Did not enter

| 1954||bgcolor=silver|Silver medalists||4||1||2||1||15||12

|Squad

| 1958||bgcolor=silver|Silver medalists||5||4||0||1||15||6

|Squad

| 1962||bgcolor=silver|Silver medalists||5||4||0||1||9||5

|Squad

|23px|border|link=Thailand 1966||First round||2||0||0||2||0||4

|Squad

|23px|border|link=Thailand 1970||bgcolor=gold|Gold medalists||6||3||2||1||5||3

|Squad

| 1974||Second round||5||1||1||3||4||10

|Squad

|23px|border|link=Thailand 1978||bgcolor=gold|Gold medalists||7||6||1||0||15||3

|Squad

| 1982||Group stage||3||1||0||2||4||3

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1986||bgcolor=gold|Gold medalists||6||4||2||0||14||3

|Squad

| 1990||bgcolor="#cc9966"|Bronze medalists||6||5||0||1||18||1

|Squad

| 1994||Fourth place||6||3||0||3||17||7

|Squad

|23px|border|link=Thailand 1998||Quarter-finals||6||4||0||2||12||6

|Squad

|2002 to present

| colspan="8" |Entered with the under-23 team

!Total!!!!61!!36!!8!!17!!128!!63!!

EAFF Championship

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan="9" |EAFF Championship record

! width="180" |Year

! width="120" |Round

! width="30" |

! width="60" |Squad

| 2003||style="background:gold;"|Champions||3||2||1||0||4||1

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2005||Fourth place||3||0||2||1||1||2

|Squad

| 2008||style="background:gold;"|Champions||3||1||2||0||5||4

|Squad

| 2010||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||3||2||0||1||8||4

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2013||style="background:#c96;"|Third place||3||0||2||1||1||2

|Squad

| 2015||style="background:gold;"|Champions||3||1||2||0||3||1

|Squad

| 2017||style="background:gold;"|Champions||3||2||1||0||7||3

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2019||style="background:gold;"|Champions||3||3||0||0||4||0

|Squad

| 2022||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||3||2||0||1||6||3

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2025||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||3||2||0||1||5||1

|Squad

!Total!!!!30!!15!!10!!5!!44!!21!!

Other competitions

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! width="360" |Competition

! width="120" |Round

! width="30" |

! width="60" |Squad

| 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup

|Group stage||2||0||2||0||2||2

|Squad

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup

|Group stage||3||2||0||1||3||6

|Squad

| 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup

|Fourth place||5||0||2||3||3||7

|Squad

Head-to-head record

The following table shows South Korea's head-to-head record, correct as of 30 May 2026.

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%;"

! Team

|align=left|

|align=left| (list)

|align=left|

|align=left| (list)

|align=left|

|align=left| (list)

|align=left|

|align=left| (list)

|align=left|

|- class=sortbottom

!Total

Honours

Intercontinental

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations

: File:Med 1.png Champions: 1987

Continental

AFC Asian Cup

: File:Med 1.png Champions: 1956, 1960

: File:Med 2.png Runners-up: 1972, 1980, 1988, 2015

: File:Med 3.png Third place: 1964, 2000, 2007, 2011

Asian Games

: File:Med 1.png Gold medalists: 1970, 1978, 1986

: File:Med 2.png Silver medalists: 1954, 1958, 1962

: File:Med 3.png Bronze medalists: 1990

Regional

EAFF Championship

: File:Med 1.png Champions: 2003, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2019

: File:Med 2.png Runners-up: 2010, 2022, 2025

: File:Med 3.png Third place: 2013

Friendly competitions

Korea Cup: 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1997
Merdeka Tournament: 1960, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978
King's Cup: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1998
Jakarta Anniversary Tournament: 1981
Dynasty Cup: 1990
LG Cup: 2000 (Iran), 2001 (Egypt), 2006 (Saudi Arabia)

South Korea national football team

History

Team image

Nicknames

Kits and crest

Kit deals

Home stadium

Rivalries

Supporters

Recent results and fixtures

2025

2026

2027

All-time results

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Hall of Fame

Individual records

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Summer Olympics

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Games

EAFF Championship

Other competitions

Head-to-head record

Honours

Intercontinental

Continental

Regional

Friendly competitions

Awards

See also

References

External links