South Korea's Asian Games men's football team, seeking a fourth consecutive gold medal, has departed for Japan, the site of the tournament.
The squad, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, left through Incheon International Airport on the morning of the 6th.
Lee and his coaching staff boarded the flight along with 13 K League players, including Lee Ki-hyeok of Gangwon FC. Lee Hyun-ju of Arouca, who joined the squad early among the Europe-based players, also traveled with the group. Fourteen players departed in total.
Overseas-based players, including wild-card forward Yang Hyun-jun of Celtic, will join the team in Japan.
The team will begin intensive preparations in Japan, host of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The squad, which assembled on the 1st at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, North Chungcheong Province, had focused its training on building team cohesion ahead of the departure.
South Korea is aiming for a fourth straight Asian Games title. The men's team has won gold at every tournament since the 2014 Incheon Games, adding titles at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018 and Hangzhou in 2023.
Fifteen nations are competing in the men's football event. The group stage is divided into four groups, with Groups A, B and C each comprising four teams. Group D, which includes South Korea, has three teams. The top two from each group advance to the quarterfinals.
South Korea plays Qatar in its first group stage match on the 15th, followed by Saudi Arabia on the 22nd.
