Moon-hwan Kim

Unimpressive opportunity

Kim logged one tackle (one won), one clearance and one interception during South Korea's 1-0 loss Thursday at Mexico.

Analysis: For the World Cup, 2026 marks Kim's second. During the South Koreans' 2022 campaign, he played every minute at right-back. But with both a managerial change and an evolving team between World Cups, Kim did not play Korea's group-stage opener last Thursday against the Czech Republic. Despite winning then, Korea made a wingback-related change, moving Seol Young-Woo's side from right to left and adding Kim in place of Lee Tae-Seok. Among the Koreans, only Kim logged each of a tackle won, clearance and interception. Besides the unique achievement, Kim's overall output is not all that impressive, highlighted by insufficient pressure on Mexico's goal-resulting cross by Julian Quinones. Kim was substituted off for Eom Ji-Sung, not Lee, potentially indicating that a regular spot in Korea's flanks may be up for grabs to more than just one player.