Hong Myung-bo has his squad moving. Nine players — six from the K League, three from the EFL Championship — plus three training partners touched down in Salt Lake City on Monday, kicking off South Korea's pre-World Cup camp ahead of the June 11 opener against Czechia.
The altitude is the point. Salt Lake City sits 1,300 meters above sea level, and that's not a coincidence — South Korea play two of their three Group A matches in Guadalajara, Mexico, another high-altitude city. Acclimatisation camps like this one quietly matter more than warm-up results. A team that struggles to breathe in the thin air of Guadalajara is a team that's already behind.
Who's in camp, and who's still coming
The nine players already in Utah are a mix of domestic and lower-league European talent: Lee Dong-gyeong, Jo Hyeon-woo, Kim Jin-gyu, Song Bum-keun, Kim Moon-hwan and Lee Gi-hyuk from the K League, joined by Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City) and Paik Seung-ho (Birmingham City). The European-based contingent follows next week.
Captain Son Heung-min is the notable holdout. He plays one more MLS match for Los Angeles FC on Sunday before making the short trip to Utah — which is about as convenient a handoff as you'll ever see in international football.
The squad will train at Real Salt Lake's facilities and the University of Utah before playing tuneup matches against Trinidad and Tobago (May 30) and El Salvador (June 3) at BYU South Field in Provo. Neither side — ranked 102nd and 100th respectively — will tell Hong much he doesn't already know, but minutes in altitude conditions are the real currency here.
A group worth taking seriously
South Korea are ranked 25th in the world and drawn into Group A alongside Mexico, Czechia and South Africa. Hong's stated goal is to qualify "in the best possible position" — and that phrasing carries real tactical weight now that the tournament has expanded to 48 teams.
Here's why it matters beyond pride: the Group A winner stays in Mexico for the round of 32. The runner-up travels to Los Angeles. A third-place finish — assuming they scrape through as one of the eight best third-placed teams — means a trip to Seattle or Boston and an immediate date with a group winner. The bracket rewards winning the group in a way previous formats never quite did.
- Group A opener: South Korea vs Czechia, June 11 in Guadalajara (11am KST June 12)
- Second match: South Korea vs Mexico, June 18 in Guadalajara (10am KST June 19)
- Third match: South Korea vs South Africa, June 24 in Monterrey (10am KST June 25)
South Korea have reached the round of 16 twice at away World Cups — South Africa 2010 and Qatar 2022. Getting out of this group is the first test. Getting out of it first would change everything about their knockout path.
