Korea set to take on World Cup co-host US with Korean German midfielder waiting in wings

Members of the Korean men's national football team participate in a training session at Icahn Stadium in N.Y., U.S., Thursday. Yonhap

Korea will face the United States on the weekend in the first of their two friendly matches scheduled for September in America, as they look to ratchet up their preparations for the FIFA World Cup next summer.

Ranked 23rd in the world, Korea will face 15th-ranked U.S. at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, at 5 p.m. Saturday (local time), or 6 a.m. Sunday (Korean time). The Taegeuk Warriors will then face world No. 13 Mexico in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday (local time).

Korea's two opponents this month will also be co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, along with Canada. Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo has said he sees the two-match trip as an opportunity to test his team's mettle against strong opponents while also getting an early peek into playing conditions on U.S. soil.

Korea have five wins, three draws and three losses all time against the U.S., though the last win came in a friendly match in December 2001. Korea lost the two teams' most recent match, a friendly in Los Angeles in February 2014, by 2-0.

Hong's 26-man squad features a mix of usual suspects and youngsters looking to stake their claim to a spot on the World Cup team next year. The one name that sticks out is that of Jens Castrop, a Korean German midfielder for Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga.

A German native with a Korean mother and a German father, Castrop earned his first Korea call-up last week after having represented his birth country at youth levels. The 22-year-old is the first foreign-born player of mixed heritage to make the Korean men's senior national team.

Hong has praised Castrop's feisty style of play, an element missing among other Korean midfielders. With Hwang In-beom, a long-time mainstay in midfield, sidelined with injury, Castrop could make his Korea debut at some point during the current trip.

Los Angeles Football Club forward Son Heung-min will have his first international duty since joining the Major League Soccer (MLS) club in August. Son has said he decided to leave Tottenham Hotspur after 10 years and take his talent to America so that he could best prepare for next year's World Cup.

Son has been wearing Korea's armband since 2018 but his captaincy is now in question after Hong said last week he will consider naming a new skipper before the World Cup. For this trip, at least, Son will remain captain.

Hong also hinted at a reduced role for Son, saying how many minutes Son logs on the pitch aren't as important as at what point of a match he plays and how much of an impact he can make.

An intriguing battle will be brewing in goal, with a pair of 30-something veterans with World Cup experience set to duel for playing time.

Kim Seung-gyu, 34, is back on the national team for the first time since January 2024. He had been the country's first-choice keeper at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup that month but ended up playing just one match after tearing a knee ligament during a training session. Kim had also been the starting goalkeeper at the 2022 World Cup.

Jo Hyeon-woo, 33, was Korea's main custodian at the 2018 World Cup but ceded the role to Kim four years later. Jo reclaimed his starting gig following Kim's injury and hasn't looked back since.

With Kim back in the fold, it will bear watching if Hong will distribute playing time evenly between the two or will name his No. 1 man early and run with him.