Son Heung-min, Cho Gue-sung, Lee Kang-in, and Seol Young-woo came to the 2026 World Cup to play soccer. What they didn’t know was that they were also going to set TikTok, Instagram, and X on fire with millions of views. 🔥
Since the World Cup kicked off in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, fans haven’t stopped comparing South Korea’s players to BTS members and the most popular K-drama actors of the moment. Captain Son Heung-min, 33 years old and with four World Cups under his belt, leads the team both on the field and in the popularity rankings. But Cho Gue-sung — already viral since Qatar 2022 — and the surprising Seol Young-woo are not far behind. 😍
The phenomenon is no coincidence: the global rise of K-pop and Korean series paved the way for these soccer players to be welcomed like pop culture stars. South Korea arrived at the World Cup undefeated in the qualifiers — 6 wins and 4 draws — and apparently winning hearts comes naturally to them too. 🇰🇷
