Stars come to S. Korea’s rescue in World Cup qualifier win over Oman

When push came to shove for South Korea against Oman in their World Cup qualifier Tuesday night in Muscat, three of the country’s biggest stars came through.

Son Heung-min, captain for both the national team and Tottenham Hotspur, scored the go-ahead goal in South Korea’s 3-1 victory at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, the country’s first win in the third round of the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Son assisted South Korea’s two other goals, including the opener by Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

And for the second straight match, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in was the creative engine for South Korea’s offense. He set up Son’s goal with some highly-skilled work just outside the box.

Hwang opened the scoring when the match was just 10 minutes old, thanks to Son’s nifty setup following a throw-in. It was exactly the kind of early offense South Korea needed, on the heels of their goalless draw against Palestine to begin the third round last Thursday in Seoul.

And for the first 30 or so minutes of the match, South Korea looked to be in complete control. But the momentum gradually turned, as Oman started poking holes through the opposing defense and the visitors noticeably slowed down in the sweltering conditions in Oman.

South Korean defender Jung Seung-hyun was charged with an own goal off a free kick in the dying moments of the first half, and it killed the momentum the Taegeuk Warriors had built.

South Korea tried to re-establish their presence in the second half. Son was initially awarded a penalty in the 51st minute after getting tripped up by Amjad Al-Harthi, but the call by referee Ma Ning was overturned following a lengthy video review.

Lee then tried to take matters into his own hands, firing consecutive left-footed shots from the right side of the box around the hour mark.

With the score still knotted at 1-1 and the clock striking the 82nd minute, Lee did what he does best: setting up a teammate for a scoring chance with his combination of skill, creativity and vision.

Surrounded by multiple Oman players outside the box, Lee threaded a pass to Son. Five defenders collapsed on Son, who still managed to find the shooting lane for his patented, left-footed shot that found the bottom left corner.

It was Son’s 49th international goal, moving him within one of former striker Hwang Sun-hong for second place on the all-time South Korean scoring list.

With several delays during the match, 16 minutes of stoppage time were called. South Korea took full advantage of that, and Son found substitute Joo Min-kyu for the 3-1 goal in the 11th minute of additional time.

“I think it was a tough game. But we knew that in the second half, we were going to have more chances,” Son said afterward. “In the first game, we created so many chances but we weren’t clinical enough. Today, we were clinical and the lads played a great game. I am very pleased about the result.”

The lethargic stretch late in the first half notwithstanding, this was an encouraging offensive effort for South Korea.

In the opening moments in particular, the South Koreans made some crisp passes to find their way past the opposing defense, with attackers showing some good off-ball movements. They were more organized in their offensive buildup than the previous match.

Hwang said he was as pleased with the process that led to his goal as he was with the goal itself.

Hwang usually plays on the right wing but constantly switched sides with Son and Lee to keep the defenders scrambling.

“I tried to penetrate space behind the defense and make linkup plays with other midfielders and attackers,” Hwang said. “In addition to the goals that we scored, we created a lot of good looks. We have some really talented players on this team, and this win will give us some positive momentum going forward.”

Lee said the victory was a total team effort, not just the work of a couple of players.

“It wasn’t just myself or Heung-min. Everyone battled really hard from start to finish,” Lee said. “We kept telling each other that we would get the result we want if we help each other every moment. And I am happy that the match played out that way.”

As for his assist on Son’s goal, Lee said, “Everyone on the field tried to make the best play possible to create that chance, and that’s how the goal was scored.”

“I want to thank all of my teammates, even the ones who didn’t end up playing and didn’t make the list today,” Lee added. “We will try to play better in our next match.”

But they were not able to maintain that momentum and instead allowed Oman to get back into the match in late stages of the first half.

South Korea remained error-prone in their own zone. Jung Seung-hyun, newly inserted as partner for center back Kim Min-jae, had a particularly rough match, after getting saddled with the own goal and losing several one-on-one battles against smaller but quicker Omani attackers. Kim often had to cover Jung’s back.

Veteran center back Kim Young-gwon had started the Palestine match but struggled to keep up with opposing forwards while also making some sloppy passes out of his own zone.

Head coach Hong Myung-bo got his first win out of the way in his second tour of duty with the national team, but this match still may not satisfy fans still upset with the way the Korea Football Association (KFA) brought Hong aboard in July.

Hong was booed mercilessly by nearly 60,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium before, during and after the Palestine match. Critics of the KFA’s decision have claimed that the football federation ignored its own vetting process to hand the job to Hong, and the coach himself has been criticized for turning his back on supporters of his former K League 1 club, Ulsan HD FC, after assuring them he would never leave the club for the national team gig.

At least Hong was not booed in Muscat Tuesday night, but his team will need more convincing victories to get Hong’s detractors off his back.