The Best Soccer Players From South Korea

Ranker Soccer
Updated January 1, 2024 130.4K views 157 items
Ranked By
13.3K votes
3.3K voters
2 reranks
Voting Rules

Vote up the best South Korea footballers of all time.

Who are the best football players from South Korea? These are the greatest soccer players born in South Korea or who played on the South Korean national football team. While the South Korea men's national team has a long and storied history of producing top international talent, fans of the Taegeuk Warriors have been waiting for the Tigers of Asia to capture international glory for some time now. So, who are the best footballers from South Korea? Who is the best South Korean soccer player of all time?

Some of the best South Korea soccer players include national legends like Cha Bum-kun, Hwang Sun-hong, Park Chang-sun, Hong Myung-bo and Park Ji-sung. There are also current South Korea football stars such as Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Kim Young-gwon, who are making an impact across the globe. 

Vote up the best soccer players from the South Korea, and help decide who is the greatest South Korean footballer of all time!

Most divisive: Kim Do-Heon
Over 3.3K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of South Korean Footballers
  • Kim Jin-hyeon
    121

    Kim Jin-hyeon

    South Korea
    1 votes
    Kim Jin-hyeon (Korean: 김진현; Hanja: 金鎭鉉; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dʑin.ɦjʌn]; born 6 July 1987) is a South Korean football goalkeeper who currently plays for Cerezo Osaka.
  • Jang Hyun-soo
    122

    Jang Hyun-soo

    Seoul, South Korea
    1 votes
    Jang Hyun-soo is a South Korean football player who currently plays for Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League.
  • Kim Yong-Sik
    123

    Kim Yong-Sik

    Sinchon, Hwanghae, Korean Empire
    1 votes
    Kim Yong-sik (Korean: 김용식; Hanja: 金容植; 25 July 1910 – 8 March 1985) was a South Korean football player who played international football for both Japan and South Korea. He managed South Korea at the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
  • Seo Dong-Myung
    124
    Samcheok, South Korea
    1 votes
    Seo Dong-Myung (born 4 May 1974) is a former South Korean football goalkeeper. He played for several clubs, including Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i, Sangmu (army), Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Busan I'Park. For South Korea national football team he participated at 1996 Summer Olympics and 1998 FIFA World Cup.
  • Cho Kwang-rae
    125

    Cho Kwang-rae

    Jinju, South Korea
    10 votes
    Cho Kwang-rae (Korean: 조광래, born March 19, 1954) is a former South Korean football player and manager. He is the current executive director of Daegu FC.
  • Lee Young-Jin
    126

    Lee Young-Jin

    Seoul, South Korea
    5 votes
    Lee Young-jin is a South Korea football manager and former player. He capped 186 games and scored 10 goals/23 assists in League, and 34 games and scored 1 goal/5 assists in Cup. He was member of South Korea at 1990 FIFA World Cup and 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament. On 22 December 2009, Daegu FC appointed Lee Young-jin as manager. In the 2011 season, the club improved on previous season by finishing in 12th place, but the board decided that they terminated his contract.
  • Kim Tae-Hwan
    127

    Kim Tae-Hwan

    Gwangju, South Korea
    5 votes
    Kim Tae-hwan (Korean: 김태환; born 24 July 1989) is a South Korean football player who plays for K League 1 side Ulsan Hyundai.
  • Choi Dae-shik
    128

    Choi Dae-shik

    South Korea
    5 votes
    Choi Dae-Shik (born January 10, 1965) is a former South Korean football player. He played for Daewoo Royals (South Korea), LG Cheetahs (South Korea) and Oita Trinita (Japan). He was a participant at 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1994 Asian Games. He is now manager of Kyungmin Information Industrial Technology High School football team.
  • Go Yo-Han
    129

    Go Yo-Han

    Masan, South Korea
    5 votes
    Go Yo-han (Korean: 고요한; born 10 March 1988) is a South Korean football right-back who plays for FC Seoul.
  • Noh Jung-Yoon
    130
    Incheon, South Korea
    5 votes
    Noh Jung-Yoon (born March 28, 1971) was a South Korean footballer who spent almost his whole career in the J1 League, with a spell in the Dutch League. The midfielder was the first Korean player to play in the J1 League when he moved to Japan in 1992 when the J1 League was newly formed. The former South Korea national team midfielder has played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, NAC Breda, Cerezo Osaka, and Avispa Fukuoka.
  • Kim Sam-Soo
    131

    Kim Sam-Soo

    Daejeon, South Korea
    5 votes
    Kim Sam-soo is a South Korean football midfielder who played for South Korea in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Hyundai Horang-i and Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso.
  • Lee Jung-soo
    132

    Lee Jung-soo

    Gimhae, South Korea
    5 votes
    Lee Jung-soo (Korean: 이정수; born 8 January 1980) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a central defender for Charlotte Independence of the USL.
  • Kim Poong-Joo
    133
    South Korea
    5 votes
    Kim Poong-Joo (Korean: 김풍주) is a South Korean football coach and former player who played for the Pusan Daewoo Royals.
  • Noh Soo-Jin
    134

    Noh Soo-Jin

    South Korea
    5 votes
    Noh Soo-Jin (Korean: 노수진; Hanja: 魯壽珍, born on February 10, 1962) is a former South Korea football player. He was a part of the South Korea national football team who of the FIFA World Cup in 1986, 1990. Also He was a member of 1988 Summer Olympics and 1988 AFC Asian Cup. At the club side, he won the K-League 1989 with Yukong Elephants. He is currently manager of Yeongdeungpo Technical High School FC.
  • Chung Hae-Won
    135
    South Korea
    2 votes
    Chung Hae-Won (Korean: 정해원, born July 1, 1959) is a South Korean former football striker and coach. He scored two goals to give South Korea national football team a 2-1 win over North Korea national football team in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup to send South Korea to the final, where they were defeated 3-0 by Kuwait national football team.
  • Chung Kyung-Ho
    136
    Samcheok, South Korea
    2 votes
    Chung Kyung-ho (born May 22, 1980) is a former South Korean football striker. He was part of the South Korea football team in 2004 Summer Olympics, who finished second in Group A, making it through to the next round, before being defeated by silver medal winners Paraguay.
  • Cho Jae-Jin
    137
    Paju, South Korea
    2 votes
    Cho Jae-Jin (born 9 July 1981 in Paju) is a retired South Korean football player. He was a member of national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
  • Lee Hoe-Taik
    138

    Lee Hoe-Taik

    Gimpo, South Korea
    2 votes
    Lee Hoe-taik (이회택, born 11 October 1946) is a former South Korean football player and manager. Lee was nicknamed "Leopard" in South Korea because of his innate stamina, rapid pace and powerful shooting. Lee scored 21 goals in the national team with 81 caps. He won one Asian Games, three Merdeka Tournaments, two Korea Cups and two King's Cups. Best Eleven, the South Korea's representative football magazine, selected him as two forwards of "South Korea All Time Best XI" with Cha Bum-kun in 2010. He had had great talent, but regretted his player life which had been slothful and dishonest.
  • Park Sung-hwa
    139

    Park Sung-hwa

    Ulsan, South Korea
    2 votes
  • Kim Jin-kook
    140

    Kim Jin-kook

    South Korea
    2 votes
  • Lee Se-yeon
    141

    Lee Se-yeon

    Unnyul, Hwanghae, Japanese Korea
    2 votes
  • 	Cho Young-wook
    142

    Cho Young-wook

    Seoul, South Korea
    2 votes
  • Kim Gun-hee
    143

    Kim Gun-hee

    Jeonju, South Korea
    2 votes
  • Moon Seon-min
    144

    Moon Seon-min

    Seoul, South Korea
    2 votes
  • Kim Bo-kyung
    145

    Kim Bo-kyung

    Gurye County, South Korea
    2 votes
    Kim Bo-Kyung (Korean: 김보경; Korean pronunciation: [kim.bo.ɡjʌŋ] or [kim] [po.ɡjʌŋ]; born 6 October 1989) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.
  • Kim Jong-boo
    146

    Kim Jong-boo

    Tongyeong, South Korea
    2 votes
    Kim Jong-Boo (Hangul: 김종부, born January 13, 1965) is currently a South Korean football manager. As a football player he played in K-League side POSCO Atoms, Daewoo Royals and Ilhwa Chunma in South Korea. He was a member of South Korea U-20 and parted in 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. In this tournament, He scored 2 goals and 2 assists and team was reached in semifinals. He was also a participant at the 1986 FIFA World Cup as a member of the South Korea national football team.
  • Choi Jong-Duk
    147

    Choi Jong-Duk

    South Korea
    2 votes
    Choi Jong-duk is a Korean football Midfielder who played for South Korea in the 1980 Asian Cup. He also played for Korea University, Army Chungeui FC and POSCO FC, Hallelujah FC, Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso.
  • Lee Seung-woo
    148

    Lee Seung-woo

    Suwon, Gyeonggi, South Korea
    7 votes
  • Choi Soon-ho
    149
    Cheongju, South Korea
    4 votes
    Choi Soon-ho (Hangul:최순호; Hanja:崔淳鎬 ; born 10 January 1962 in Cheongju) is a South Korean football manager and former professional football player. He is known as one of the most prominent players in Korean football history.
  • Park Jong-Woo
    150

    Park Jong-Woo

    South Korea
    4 votes
    Park Jong-woo (Korean: 박종우; born 10 March 1989) is a South Korean football player, who currently plays for Busan IPark as a midfielder.