Lee Seung-woo (; born 6 January 1998) is a South Korean

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 a

left winger 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

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 ...

Early life

Aged 12, Lee caught the attention of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

after he finished as the top scorer in the 2010

Danone Nations Cup The Danone Nations Cup is a football tournament for children between the ages of 10 and 15. It is organized since 2000 on the initiative of Danone.

, one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments. He joined Barcelona's youth academy,

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

, and scored 39 goals in 29 appearances during his first season. He was also named the best player in four youth tournaments: Torneo Canillas, Memorial Gaetano Scirea, Trofeo San Bonifacio, and Gabala Cup. He was nicknamed the "Korean Messi" after showing his talent. However, he was banned from playing in the regular season for three years until his 18th birthday by transfer regulations of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. On 13 March 2016, he made his senior debut for the B team.

Club career

Hellas Verona

On 31 August 2017, Lee joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

on a four-year deal, for a fee of €1.5 million. Barcelona retained the option to repurchase him until 2019 for an undisclosed fee. On 24 September, he made his Serie A debut for Verona in the second half of the game against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. On 6 May 2018, he scored his first Serie A goal in an away match against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, but his team lost 4–1. Verona was relegated to the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

by finishing the league in 19th place. He scored one goal and provided two assists during 27 appearances in the

2018–19 Serie B The 2018–19 Serie B (known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of Serie B in Italy since its establishment in 1929. A total of 19 teams contested in the 2018–19 season, instead of the usual 22 teams, due to the exclus ...

. Verona was promoted to the Serie A by winning the promotion play-offs, but he was excluded from Verona's plan for the next season.

Sint-Truiden

On 30 August 2019, Lee joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

side

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...

. He was excluded from the list of the squad for twelve consecutive matches, and this situation caused much controversy in South Korea. His name was on the list for the first time against

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

on 29 November, and he made his Belgian league debut against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

on 26 December. He finished his first season due to early termination of the Belgian league caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after making only four appearances. On 13 September 2020, he scored his first and second goal for Sint-Truiden against

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

, but his team lost 3–2 despite his two goals. However, he failed to score in six games where he played as a starter excluding a game against Antwerp, and his team also did not get a victory at the same time. When he was being excluded from the squad again, some South Korean journalists recommended playing in South Korea to him. On 1 February 2021, Lee joined

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy. He had difficulty in leaving special impression on the new club. He left Portimonense after the end of his contract.

Suwon FC

In December 2021, Lee returned to his hometown of

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

, signing with

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 ...

side

Suwon FC Suwon FC (; Hanja: 水原 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Suwon, that competes in the K League 1, the South Korea's top professional league. They play their home games at Suwon Stadium. History Early years: semi-profes ...

on a multi-year deal. Lee still showed weak physical strength, pace and defensive skills, which had been followed by his failure in Italy and Belgium, but his accurate shots and momentary movements stood out in South Korea. In his first K League 1 season, he became the third highest scorer without a penalty, and was selected as one of the four best left wingers, who were nominated for the

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the K League MVP Award, Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by ...

. In his second season, Lee struggled somewhat due to his weaknesses grasped by opponents, but helped Suwon avoid relegation by scoring the most goals among team members. He received an offer from Seire A club

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

in the middle of the season, but was more cautious about his challenge in Europe after the hardship at Sint-Truiden. For the first half of the 2024 season, his third season at Suwon, Lee dominated the league and already reached double-digit goals. Another club in the same league,

, offered him the league's highest salary in the summer transfer window.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

On 24 July 2024, Lee joined Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on a four-and-a-half year deal.

International career

Lee made his international debut as a part of the South Korea under-16 team in the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship qualification. He scored four goals in a qualifier against

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

2014 AFC U-16 Championship The 2014 AFC U-16 Championship was the 16th edition of the biennial international youth association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for players aged 16 and below. Thailand were approved as hosts of ...

, he showed overwhelming performances, leading South Korea to the final. He scored winning goals against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in the group stage. Afterwards, in the quarter-finals, he scored all two goals in a 2–0 win over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and left a memorable scene. He destroyed Japan's defense by dribbling for about 50 meters, scoring his second goal. In the semi-finals against

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, he recorded one goal and four assists. He became the tournament's best player and top goalscorer, although his team lost the final to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Lee played for South Korea in the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, but he missed a crucial penalty against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. South Korea lost to Belgium in the round of 16. Lee participated in the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

hosted by South Korea. He scored the winning goal and provided one assist in the first group match against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. He scored the opening goal after dribbling alone for 40 meters in the second match against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. South Korea was eliminated by a loss to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the round of 16. In a friendly against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

just before 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 ...

, Lee made his senior international debut and showed impressive performance including an assist. He was selected for the World Cup team, playing two World Cup matches as a substitute. Lee was named in the South Korea under-23 squad for the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

. In the round of 16 against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, he scored his first goal of the tournament. In the semi-finals against

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, he led South Korea to a 3–1 victory with two goals and one assist. In extra time of the final, he scored the crucial opening goal, contributing to a 2–1 victory over

. He won a gold medal after the final. Lee was selected to the Korean national team roster for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in October 2024 and returned to the national team after 5 years and 4 months. Lee was selected as a replacement due to injuries to Hwang Hee-chan and Eom Ji-sung. He needed to join the training urgently, so he arrived at the training using standing room on the train.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

South Korea U17 *

AFC U-16 Championship The AFC U-17 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship, is a football competition, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held once every two years for Asian under-17 teams that also serves as a q ...

runner-up:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

South Korea U23 *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *

Most Valuable Player:

top goalscorer:

* AFC Youth Player of the Year: 2017 * Korean FA Goal of the Year: 2017 * K League All-Star: 2022, 2023, 2024 *

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

Player of the Month: June 2022, August 2023, May 2024

References

External links

*Lee Seung-Woo Officia
TwitterLee Seung-woo – National Team Stats
at KFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Seung-woo 1998 births Living people Footballers from Suwon South Korean men's footballers Men's association football wingers FC Barcelona Atlètic players Hellas Verona FC players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Portimonense S.C. players Suwon FC players Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Segunda División B players Serie A players Serie B players Belgian Pro League players K League 1 players South Korean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Spain South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Italy South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Belgium South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal South Korea men's international footballers South Korea men's youth international footballers South Korea men's under-20 international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen