Kwon Chang-hoon (; born 30 June 1994) is a South Korean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

club

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Jeonbuk have won the K League a record nine times, including ...

and the South Korea national team.

Early life

Kwon started playing football when he was in YangJeon Elementary School in Seoul. After he graduated from Joongdong Middle School, he went to Maetan High School to join the under-18 team of

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

Club career

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

signed Kwon under homegrown player rule during the 2012 K League draft. He made his senior debut as a substitute in the 79th minute in an

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

match against

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

on 3 April 2013. He also made his K League debut against

Daegu FC Daegu FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was relegated at the ...

on 6 April, playing as a substitute for 25 minutes. He was selected for the K League 1 Best XI in 2015 and 2016 while playing for Suwon. He challenged France's

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

after growing as one of the top midfielders in the K League.

Dijon

In January 2017, Kwon joined

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

on a 3.5-year deal. The transfer fee paid to Suwon was estimated at €1.5 million. In the

2017–18 Ligue 1 The 2017–18 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was the 80th season since its establishment. The season started on 4 August 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. AS Monaco FC, Monaco were the defending champions. O ...

, Kwon quickly established himself as an ace player for Dijon, finishing joint Dijon's top scorer with 11 goals in 34 league appearances. However, he injured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

during the last league match, and failed to show his former performance since then.

SC Freiburg

On 28 June 2019, Kwon joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

. He usually played as a substitute during two years in Freiburg.

Return to Suwon

Kwon left SC Freiburg to do mandatory military service in South Korea. He returned to his former club

, and prepared to enlist in military football club

Gimcheon Sangmu Gimcheon Sangmu Football Club () is a South Korean professional football club based in Gimcheon that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Sangmu is the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Sangmu' ...

. Kwon did not feature for Suwon during the 2023 season, which saw the club getting relegated to

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

, due to persistent injuries; he subsequently left the club, following the expiration of his contract. He received support from Suwon to overcome a long-term injury, whereas he was criticised for being unconcerned with the club and club's fans.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

On 7 January 2024, Kwon joined fellow K League 1 club

on a free transfer.

International career

Kwon was named in the South Korean under-19 squad for the

2012 AFC U-19 Championship The 2012 AFC U-19 Championship is the 37th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC approved UAE as hosts of the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship on 23 November 2011.

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. After winning the AFC Championship, Kwon was called up to under-20 team for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. Kwon was called up to the senior national team for the 2015 East Asian Cup. He made his international debut in an East Asian Cup match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. On 3 September 2015, at the

Hwaseong Stadium Hwaseong Sports Complex Town () is a group of sports facilities in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea. The complex consists of Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong Indoor Arena, and an auxiliary stadium. Facilities Hwaseong Stadium The Hwaseong Stadium ...

, he scored his first senior goals, a brace, in an 8–0 home win over

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

in the second round of

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. Kwon participated in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, and scored a crucial goal in a 1–0 win over Mexico to advance to the quarter-finals. Kwon was named in South Korea's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the last game of the 2017–18 French season, however, Kwon injured his Achilles tendon and was ruled out for the World Cup through injury.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kwon goal.''

Honours

Suwon Samsung Bluewings *

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

South Korea U20 *

AFC U-19 Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

South Korea U23 *

AFC U-23 Championship The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship (in 2013) and AFC U-23 Championship (between 2016 and 2020), is a biennial international football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 n ...

runner-up:

South Korea *

EAFF Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual * K League All-Star: 2015, 2022 * K League 1 Best XI:

Notes

References

External links

Kwon Chang-hoon
at KFA * *
Official page of Kwon Chang-hoon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, Chang-hoon 1994 births Living people South Korean men's footballers Footballers from Seoul Men's association football midfielders South Korea men's youth international footballers South Korea men's under-20 international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers South Korea men's international footballers Olympic footballers for South Korea Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Suwon Samsung Bluewings players Dijon FCO players SC Freiburg players K League 1 players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players South Korean expatriate men's footballers South Korean expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 2022 FIFA World Cup players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen