Son Heung-min’s last World Cup begins against Czechia in Guadalajara
At 33 and now with LAFC, Son Heung-min leads South Korea into what is almost certainly his final World Cup, opening against a Czechia side back on the big stage for the first time since 2006.
Jun 10, 2026
When South Korea open their World Cup against Czechia in Guadalajara on the tournament’s first day, most eyes will be on one man. Son Heung-min is 33 now, playing his football in Major League Soccer with Los Angeles FC, and this is almost certainly the last World Cup of a career that has carried Korean football for more than a decade. For fans in India, the Group A tie kicks off at 7:30am IST on Friday, 12 June, an early alarm for anyone who wants to watch the captain begin what may be his final tournament.
A captain on his last World Cup stage
Son has been to three World Cups already, in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and his three goals across them leave him level with Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan as Korea’s leading scorers at the tournament. He has spoken openly about 2026 being the end of the road at this level, and at 33 the maths is hard to argue with. By the time the next World Cup comes around in 2030, he will be 37.
His move to LAFC last August, after ten years at Tottenham, has not dimmed his importance to the national side. Hong Myung-bo, who took charge in 2024 and steered Korea through qualification unbeaten, has built the team around his captain. Son is still the player Korea look to when a game needs unlocking, and he will want a fast start in a group that looks within reach.
A group that offers a path
Korea have landed in Group A alongside co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and Czechia, and few would call it the toughest section of the draw. The expanded 48-team format sends the top two from each group through, along with the best third-placed sides, which gives a team like Korea genuine reason to believe. Beating Czechia first up would be the ideal way to build that platform.
Their opponents arrive with a story of their own. Czechia are at a World Cup for the first time since 2006, a 20-year wait ended only after they came through two penalty shoot-outs in the play-offs under Miroslav Koubek. They will not fear Korea, and a nation returning to the big stage after so long tends to play with freedom. For Son and his side, that makes the opener a test of nerve as much as quality.
There is a neatness to the timing. The World Cup’s opening day belongs to the hosts in Mexico City, but a few hours later in Guadalajara, one of the modern game’s most likeable forwards gets his farewell tournament under way. If Korea are going to make a run, it has to start here.