Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in lead 7-0 victory over Singapore in World Cup qualifier

Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in each scored twice as Korea romped to a 7-0 victory over Singapore in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday, ensuring their place in the next stage of the competition.

Korea's Lee Kang-in, center left, celebrates scoring a goal with Joo Min-kyu during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Singapore at the Singapore National Stadium in Singapore on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in both scored a double to lead Korea to a 7-0 win over Singapore in a 2026 World Cup qualifier on Thursday, locking in a place in the third round of the qualifiers with one game left to go.

Korea, led by new interim manager Kim Do-hoon, started confidently at Singapore National Stadium, capitalizing on early chances to end the first half up 2-0 before dominating in the second half to seal a massive victory and a place in the next round.

Kim started Ulsan HD striker Joo Min-kyu and Daegu FC defender Hwang Jae-won in the absence of FC Midtjylland striker Cho Gue-sung and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae, who are of the squad for the June qualifiers due to injury.

The early minutes of the match went in Korea’s favor, with the Taeguk Warriors handling a high line play by Singapore and progressing build ups smoothly.

Lee found a crack in the armor in the ninth minute, dribbling past a defender to smash a shot into the back of the net.

Korea’s first goal triggered a brief but fiery response from the Southeast Asian side, who made their biggest push up the field of the game but were unable to convert.

Joo doubled the lead in the 21st minute with a header from a tidy cross by Kim Jin-su, becoming one of the oldest players in Korean national team history to score a goal at 34 years old, having already become the oldest player ever to be called up for the first time at 33 years and 333 days in March.

The Korean defense looked shaky despite the two goal lead. Fullback Hwang failed to withstand the pressure from an aggressive Singapore, losing the ball multiple times.

But Korea held onto the lead through the end of the first half, partly thanks to midfielder Lee Jae-sung, who played deeper to clear the ball in addition to making effective passes up the pitch.

The early minutes of the second half saw Singapore continuing to play aggressively, but the attack did not last for long.

Son made it 3-0 in the 53rd minute, with Lee scoring his second goal just one minute later. Son came back again in the 56th minute to stretch the score to 5-0.

Korea's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring a goal during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Singapore at the Singapore National Stadium in Singapore on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Stoke City midfielder Bae Jun-ho then capitalized on a cut back to score his debut goal in the 79th minute in his first national team appearance.

Hwang Hee-chan, who came on in the second half, added goal No. 7 in the 82nd minute to seal the 7-0 win.

Thursday’s game is an encouraging sign for Korea not only because of the result, but also the effective addition of two new players: Bae and fullback Park Seung-wook.

Bae was agile and showed good positioning, while Park timed through balls well with solid accuracy.

Thursday’s win is the second against Singapore in Group C, having also trounced them 5-0 in the first game in November last year.

Thursday’s win sends Korea to the third round of the qualifiers ahead of the last second round fixture against China at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on June 11. In the second round, the group winners and runners-up from each group reach the next round.

The last game against China should be interim manager Kim’s last match in charge, as the Korea Football Association (KFA) said last month that he would take charge of the team only for the two qualifiers this month. The KFA has not reversed its decision.

The appointment of Kim came after the KFA missed its self-imposed deadline to appoint a permanent national team boss by mid-May.

The post has been vacant since the KFA sacked Jurgen Klinsmann in February after a one-year stint during which he faced criticism for a perceived lack of tactical awareness and failure to win the AFC Asian Cup.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]