Premier League-bound teen sensation Yang Min-hyeok was named to the Korean men’s national team for upcoming World Cup qualifying matches on Monday.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo put Yang, the 18-year-old forward for Gangwon FC, on his 26-man squad for two World Cup qualifying matches scheduled for next month.
To kick off Group B action in the third round of the Asian qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, South Korea will host Palestine at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on Sept. 5. They will then play Oman at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat at 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 local time, or 11 p.m. the same night in Korea.
Yang has emerged as the top young player in the K League 1 this year, leading all first-year players with eight goals and five assists and pushing Gangwon to first place in the 12-team league. In July, he signed for Tottenham Hotspur, becoming the youngest Korean player to join a Premier League side. Yang will finish his South Korean season and then join Spurs in January next year.
At 18 years and 137 days old, Yang is the 13th-youngest player to be named to the men’s national team.
Yang was recently voted the K League 1’s Player of the Month for July. Hong said Yang might have slowed a bit in August, but it wasn’t enough to change his mind about the youngster.
“I think he has done enough this season to deserve a spot on the national team,” Hong said Monday at the press conference announcing the squad at the Korea Football Association House in Seoul. “His body of work for this season speaks for itself, and I 토토 think this was the right time to give him this opportunity. A lot of people have high expectations of him, and I hope he can do some good things for us here. And it’s up to him to keep earning these chances.”
Yang is one of four first-time selections, along with his Gangwon teammate Hwang Moon-gi, FC Midtjylland defender Lee Han-beom and Incheon United defender Choi Woo-jin.
Usual suspects include Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, captain for both his Premier League club and the national team, and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who has scored in each of the French club’s first two matches of the young season. Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae and Mainz 05 midfielder Lee Jae-sung were also called up.