South Korea's players reportedly call their captain 'No 7'. The next two games are in Qatar.
Five months after a group-stage World Cup exit, South Korea's players reportedly call their captain 'No 7', the coach and the federation president are gone, and two friendlies in Qatar come next.
The question
On 21 October, in a Seoul parliamentary committee, the lawmaker Jeong Yeon-wook put a question to Lee Yong-soo, acting president of the Korea Football Association. Lawmakers had heard, Jeong said, that players no longer use their captain's name. They call him "No 7", or "that person" 1.
Lee asked if he meant Son Heung-min. Jeong said it appeared to be true. Lee declined to comment 1.
What happened in June
Korea went out in the group stage: 2-1 over Czechia, then 1-0 losses to Mexico and South Africa in Guadalupe, where Thapelo Maseko scored on 63 minutes 2.
Hong Myung-bo left Son out of the starting lineup for that game and sent him on at half-time 2. The squad then stopped speaking to the media, after reporters mocked Son's military service 1.
Who left
Hong resigned at the end of June. Chung Mong-gyu, the KFA president, followed. Lawmakers questioned both in July, and on 6 August police searched the federation's offices in Cheonan and Seoul over Hong's appointment two years earlier 3.
In September the KFA hired Robert Moreno, the former Spain coach, on a two-month deal to the end of November 4. Nobody has replaced Chung.
The 1996 group
Moreno's four matches: two wins, a draw and a 4-1 defeat by Uruguay 5. Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, Hwang In-beom of Porto and Hwang Hee-chan of Schalke, the 1996-born core, wanted a new captain and a new coach once the tournament ended 1. Hwang, after a 0-0 draw with Venezuela: "I'm tired physically and mentally."
Reports said the three were ready to quit the national team before a KFA official talked them round, and the federation has not denied them 1.
Two games in Qatar
A free kick against Uzbekistan on 6 October gave Son his 59th international goal, more than any other South Korean 1. Son, 34, plays for Los Angeles FC; his place in the XI is debated.
Korea's last two matches of 2026 are in Qatar: Saudi Arabia on 13 November (5:30pm local, 9:30am ET, 6:30am PT) and Qatar on 17 November in Ar-Rayyan (5pm local, 9am ET, 6am PT) 6. The Saudi fixture was moved to Qatar after the missile attack on Riyadh's airport 7.
The Asian Cup opens in Riyadh on 7 January. The AFC president, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, said a decision may not come until the end of November and that it could move back a year, to 2028 7.
Quote of the Day
"There are many things that need to change, in football and in many other areas, but it doesn't seem to be happening."
Hwang In-beom, 2 October 2026 1
References
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