Son Heung-min of LAFC has been named one of the 2026 North America World Cup's "legends" alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Athletic, the sports media outlet owned by The New York Times, on Wednesday released its list of "200 Players to Watch at the 2026 FIFA World Cup."
The outlet ranked players across five tiers — legend, superstar, key player, rising star and unsung hero. The legend category, defined as "the greatest players their countries have ever produced," includes 15 players.
Son is the only South Korean player to earn the legend designation.
He joins Messi and Ronaldo, as well as Harry Kane of England, Luka Modric of Croatia, Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium, Mohamed Salah of Egypt, Neymar of Brazil and Virgil van Dijk of the Netherlands, among others.
Son has represented South Korea for 15 years since his international debut in 2010, amassing 56 goals in 145 caps. Last October, he set a new record for the most international appearances by a South Korean player, in a match against Brazil.
Son led the under-23 national team to a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and, in 2025, helped Tottenham Hotspur end a 17-year trophy drought by defeating Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League final.
Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich and Cho Gue-sung of Midtjylland were each placed one tier lower, in the key player category.
South Korea opens Group Stage play against the Czech Republic on Friday (Korean Standard Time), then faces Mexico on June 19 and South Africa on June 25.
dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com
