Hwang In-beom: No longer an unsung hero

Korea's Hwang In-beom scores a goal during the World Cup Group A football match between Korea and the Czech Republic in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, June 11, 2026. Yonhap

One of the best things about the World Cup is that billions of fans around the world are introduced to players that they may not be familiar with. Indeed, one British journalist was disappointed to find that midfielder Hwang In-beom was not some young prospect for the future but a 29-year-old who plays for Feyenoord in the Netherlands.

While Koreans fans have long appreciated Hwang’ s talents, internationally he has fallen under the radar. However, that overlooked status officially ended on June 11 in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, as the Daejeon native turned heads with his performance in Korea's 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. With the Europeans ahead 1-0 midway through the second half, it was looking bleak — but then Hwang scored an equalizing goal of real skill and composure before setting up the winning goal for Oh Hyeon-gyu ten minutes before the end of the game.

If Hwang is in the same form against Mexico on Friday morning (Seoul time) then Korea could find itself in the knockout stages with one Group A game still remaining. The Mexicans will be keeping a close eye on the player, however.

He has had an unusual journey to becoming one of the early stars of the 2026 World Cup. There was plenty of interest after he made a name for himself at Daejeon Hana Citizen FC, but the K-League club opted to sell the midfielder to Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps. After just over a season in Canada, he was off to Russia to join Rubin Kazan in 2020.

Hwang settled in quickly, but after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 resulted in the country being banned from international soccer, he came home and joined FC Seoul for a while before joining Greek giant Olympiakos. In 2023, made a fairly short move to sign for Red Star Belgrade, becoming Serbia’s Player of the Season before heading further west to join Feyenoord of Rotterdam.

The Dutch certainly appreciate an intelligent midfield player who can set a tempo for the team, with a vision matched by the ability to execute.

The 29-year-old is a fine all-round midfielder, but his reputation would be stellar had he had fewer injuries. Hwang has a habit of picking up knocks. In just this season for Feyenoord, he had a calf injury in September, a thigh injury two months later and, more seriously, missed the last three months of the season with an ankle ligament problem.

Had he been around, perhaps the defeats by Ivory Coast and Austria in March would have been victories. Certainly fans at home took note.

"I don't think that we played poorly just because I wasn't there,” Hwang said. “We have players who can always step in for people who aren't available. Those would still have been difficult matches even if I had been there.”

Now he is there — and if he can stay fit, Korea has a real chance of a World Cup to remember.