Korea's Son Heung-min before the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between Korea and South Africa at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico, Wednesday (local time) / Reuters-Yonhap
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — If this indeed was the final FIFA World Cup for Son Heung-min, the longtime Korean captain would certainly have hoped for a better ending.
The lasting image for the 33-year-old talisman at this tournament may be the one of him sitting on the bench during the first half of what turned out be a 1-0 loss to South Africa in the final Group A match on Wednesday.
The defeat left Korea in third place in their group with three points from a win and two losses. They still harbored hopes of sneaking into the round of 32 as one of the eight best third-place teams, but those were dashed Saturday, the last day of group play, when the Taegeuk Warriors got pushed out of the top eight mix.
Son finished with no goal in his two and a half matches at the tournament.
