Named to the national team once again for the second time since March, Kim In-gyu was the star of the show with a debut goal and an assisted hat trick.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by interim head coach Kim Do-hoon, defeated Singapore 7-0 in the fifth match of Group C of the FIFA Confederations Cup North America 2026 Asian Zone Second Qualifying Round at the Singapore National Stadium on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
South Korea deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation on the day. Lee Min-gyu started up front, followed by Son Heung-min, Lee Jae-sung, and Lee Kang-in. Hwang In-beom and Jung Woo-young formed the midfield, while Kim Jin-soo, Kwon Kyung-won, Cho Yoo-min, and Hwang Jae-won formed the back four. Cho Hyun-woo wore the goalkeeper’s gloves.
In response, Singapore went with a 4-5-1 formation. Pandey started up top, with Stewart, Siahin, Harun, Shahiran, and Song in the midfield. The back four was Tan, Bararuddin, Huizen, and Stewart, with Sunny in goal.
South Korea needed only a draw in this match to secure a spot in the final qualifiers regardless of the outcome of the final match. However, they needed to win both of their June A-Match matches to finish first in their group and claim one of the final qualification spots, and they did just that with a convincing victory over Singapore.
At the center of it all was Lee In-gyu. Lee made his debut in March during the A-Match, wearing a taegeuk marker. He had proven his quality by scoring the most goals in the K League 1 in each of the last three seasons, but he was consistently overlooked by managers such as Paulo Bento and Jürgen Klinsmann. Finally, at the age of 33 years, 343 days, he made his A-match debut.
He returned to the national team during the A-Match in June. Again under an interim managerial system, Kim Do-hoon entrusted Kim Min-kyu up front against Singapore. Kim fulfilled 100% of his role as a frontline striker. Not only did he score goals, but he also created assists through his link-up play and his movement up front.
It started with the first goal in the ninth minute. Son Heung-min’s shot was deflected off the goalkeeper, but Lee Min-gyu saved it and set up Lee Kang-in for 사설토토 the goal. In the 20th minute, Kim Jin-soo’s cross was met by Lee Kang-in, who rattled the net for his debut goal.
He continued to produce assists in the second half. In the eighth minute of the second half, he played a penetrating pass to Son Heung-min. Son cut into the center from the left side and fired a sharp right-footed shot into the back of the net. It wasn’t over yet. In the ninth minute of the second half, Lee Min-kyu played a pass to Lee Kang-in on the right. Lee slid it in with his left foot.
After one of his best performances of the game, Inhabigyu was substituted for Hwang Hee-chan in the 13th minute of the second half. In addition to a goal and three assists, South Korea added back-to-back goals from Bae Jun-ho and Hwang Hee-chan to secure a 7-0 victory over Singapore and the final qualification spot.