One Free Kick Against Ecuador: Son Heung-min Reaches 57 A-Match Goals, 1 Behind Cha Bum-kun's Record
Son Heung-min's free-kick goal against Ecuador brought him to 57 goals in 148 A-matches. He is 1 goal behind Cha Bum-kun, South Korea's all-time men's leader. Asked about the record, he said the team comes first.
Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.
1 goal. That is the distance left between Son Heung-min (34) and the South Korean men's A-match scoring record. With a second-half free kick against Ecuador on September 24, he reached 57 career goals. He is now one step from the 58 of the record holder Cha Bum-kun (73) (as of 05:00 on 2026.09.25). It is 1 goal to tie and 2 goals to stand alone at the top. Yet when asked about the record after the match, his reaction was light.
Son Heung-min at 57 A-Match Goals, 1 Behind After Free Kick Against Ecuador
South Korea played a friendly against Ecuador at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on September 24 and won 3-0. The score matches both the official match result from the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the report from Newsis. Son sent a second-half free kick straight into the net. By Yonhap News's count, his A-match record after the match stands at 148 games and 57 goals.
When the scoring record came up, Son brushed it off, saying, "I think the reporters care more about it than I do." This is his post-match remark on the 24th as relayed by Newsis. News1 relayed his remarks from the same day as: "But as always, I will think of the team first and will not put personal records first." He credited his teammates and coaches for the record.
South Korea Men's All-Time A-Match Scoring List (as of 05:00 on 2026.09.25)
| Rank | Player | Goals | Difference from Son Heung-min (goals) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cha Bum-kun | 58 | +1 |
| 2 | Son Heung-min | 57 | — |
| 3 | Hwang Sun-hong | 50 | -7 |
| 4 | Park I-chun | 36 | -21 |
| Tied 5 | Lee Dong-gook | 33 | -24 |
| Tied 5 | Kim Jae-han | 33 | -24 |
This table is a reconstruction that adds Son Heung-min's 57 goals, as reported after the Ecuador match, to the KFA record table (as of July 1, 2026). It is not a table updated by the KFA. Adding the number of games changes the picture. Cha Bum-kun scored 58 goals in 136 games, or 0.43 goals per game. In third place, Hwang Sun-hong (58) scored 50 goals in 103 games, a rate of 0.49 goals per game. Son Heung-min has 57 goals in 148 games, or 0.39 goals per game.
148 games and 57 goals: 1 goal behind Cha Bum-kun and 7 goals ahead of Hwang Sun-hong. It is a tally built while playing the most games of the three. One difference in the counting standard is also worth noting. The KFA table counts Cha Bum-kun at 58 goals but adds a separate note saying "the record approved by FIFA in 2000 is 55 goals." This article uses the KFA's 58 goals as its baseline.
Son Heung-min's $11.15 Million Salary: The Background Behind the MLS's No. 2 Pay
Son Heung-min was born on July 8, 1992. He made his debut at Hamburger SV in 2010 and moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013, the very club Cha Bum-kun played for from 1983 to 1989. After joining Tottenham Hotspur in 2015, he became the joint Premier League top scorer in 2021-22. He also won the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League. He received the 2020 FIFA Puskas Award as well.
When he moved to LAFC in August 2025, the transfer fee was $26.5 million. Several outlets, including the Kyunghyang Shinmun, reported it at the time as the highest in MLS history. The MLS Players Association (MLSPA)'s spring 2026 salary guide shows his average annual guaranteed compensation is $11,152,852, second in the MLS. His base salary alone is $10,368,750.
Guaranteed compensation is base salary plus signing bonus and guaranteed bonuses, converted to an annual figure. It differs from total income including endorsements and sponsorships. The figures of 57 goals and 148 games are consistent between Yonhap News and Newsis on-site reports. However, the KFA's public table still shows 56 goals.
Only 1 goal remains to the record. In an OSEN interview the same day, Son said: "I think playing for the national team is always an honor, and I have never taken it for granted."
Related Official Sites
- KFA Records — the official table of South Korea men's all-time A-match scoring
- KFA Official Page for the Men's National Team — national team match results and rosters
- LAFC Official Website — schedule and news for Son Heung-min's club
- MLSPA Official Salary Data — raw data on guaranteed compensation for each MLS player
Representative image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of the match in this article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (dom fellowes from UK), CC BY 2.0
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· Coach Moreno's Debut, Ecuador Match at 8 Tonight: 4-4-2 and Son Heung-min Stays as Captain
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