A late bloomer has blossomed into a spectacular display on the green turf of Singapore.
Lee Min-kyu (34-Ulsan), a late-comer to the ranks of professional soccer’s leading goal scorers, finally scored his A-match debut.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by interim head coach Kim Do-hoon (54), won 7-0 on Saturday at The National Stadium in Singapore in their fifth match of Group C of the 2026 North and Central American World Cup Asia Pacific Second Qualifying Round at The National Stadium.
With the win, South Korea, who have four wins and one draw, will advance to the final round of qualifying, which begins in September, regardless of the outcome of their final match against China on Nov. 11.
Singapore, on the other hand, finished last with one draw and four losses.
Contrary to expectations that South Korea would be experimenting, they fielded a lineup that was close to their best. Lee Min-gyu anchored the front line, while a trio of Europeans – Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) – supported him in the second line.
Of the seven new faces in the squad, left-back Hwang Jae-won (Daegu) was the only one to make his debut in the starting lineup.
South Korea, who pushed hard against Singapore, ranked 155th in the FIFA rankings, opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Lee Min-gyu set up Lee Kang-in in the penalty area for the opening goal. Lee’s dribbling run and subsequent shot took down a defender.
Lee In-gyu, who picked up his first assist of the A-Match, was also responsible for the goal that put Singapore ahead. Lee made it 2-0 in the 20th 안전놀이터 minute when he headed a cross from the left flank by defender Kim Jin-soo into the left corner of the goal.
In March, Lee made his debut in the third match against Thailand, becoming the oldest player in Korean soccer history to make an A-match debut (33 years, 343 days), but this was his first time scoring. After playing as a helper rather than a creator in his debut, he said, “If my teammates play well, I’ll be able to help them one day,” and he got his first taste of goal with an assist from Kim Jin-soo. The goal, which came after just three A-Match matches, made him the second oldest A-Match debut goal in history (34 years, 54 days), behind the late Kim Yong-sik’s goal against Hong Kong in a friendly on April 15, 1950, at the age of 39 years, 274 days.
In the second half, Lee didn’t let up on the offense, as he found Son Heung-min down the left flank on a counterattack in the eighth minute to make it 3-0. A minute later, he picked up his second assist of the game when he set up Lee Kang-in’s wedge goal.
After contributing to virtually all four goals, Lee was substituted for Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) to thunderous applause in the 13th minute of the second half, when 에볼루션 바카라사이트 Son Heung-min’s goal made it 5-0. With his performance, Inhabigyu can look forward to competing with Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwillan) for the starting spot in the front line for the North and Central American World Cup final qualifiers. Despite scoring the most goals (60) in the K League 1 over the past four years, he hasn’t received a call-up to the national team, with both Paulo Bento and Jürgen Klinsmann turning him down. Luckily for him, he’s seized the opportunity that has come his way late in life and can look forward to one last spark.
Bae Junho (Stoke City) also enjoyed a goal on his debut after coming on for Lee Jae-sung in the 25th minute. Bae sensationally slotted a cross from the right flank into the Singapore goal in the 34th minute. Hwang Hee-chan added the icing on the cake in the 37th minute with a left-footed shot from a corner kick to seal the 7-0 win.