Son Heung-min

In this Korean name, the family name is Son.

Son Heung-min
Son with Tottenham Hotspur in 2024
Personal information
Full name Son Heung-min[1]
Date of birth (1992-07-08) 8 July 1992[1]
Place of birth Chuncheon, South Korea
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward[3]
Team information
Current team
 Los Angeles FC
Number 7
Youth career
2006–2007[4] Yukminkwan Middle School
2007[5] Dongbuk Middle School
2008[5] FC Seoul[note 1]
2008–2010 Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Hamburger SV II 6 (1)
2010–2013 Hamburger SV 73 (20)
2013–2015 Bayer Leverkusen 62 (21)
2015–2025 Tottenham Hotspur 333 (127)
2025– Los Angeles FC 6 (5)
International career‡
2008–2009 South Korea U17 18 (7)
2016–2018 South Korea U23 10[α] (3)
2010– South Korea 136 (53)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  South Korea
Asian Games
2018 Jakarta-Palembang
AFC Asian Cup
Runner-up 2015 Australia
2011 Qatar
AFC U-16 Championship
Runner-up 2008 Uzbekistan

Korean name
Hangul
손흥민
Hanja
孫興慜
RRSon Heungmin
MRSon Hŭngmin
IPA[son hɯŋ.min]
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 03:36, 18 September 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:36, 9 September 2025 (UTC)

Son Heung-min (Korean: 손흥민; pronounced [son.ɣɯŋ.min]; born 8 July 1992)[note 2] is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC[6] and captains the South Korea national team.[3] Known for his speed, finishing, two-footedness, and ability to link play, he is the top Asian goalscorer in both Premier League and UEFA Champions League history,[7][8][9] and is widely regarded as the greatest Asian player of all time.[a]

Born in Chuncheon, South Korea, Son relocated to Germany to join Hamburger SV at 16, making his debut in the Bundesliga in 2010. In 2013, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen for a club record €10 million before signing for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur two years later.[16] While at Spurs, Son soon established himself as one of the best forwards in the world. He contributed to the club reaching the Champions League final in 2018–19 and the EFL Cup final in 2020–21. In 2019–20, Son scored a solo effort in the league that earned him the FIFA Puskás Award. In the 2021–22 season, he jointly won the Premier League Golden Boot award with 23 goals, becoming the first Asian player to win it.[17] In April 2023, he became the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals. Appointed club captain later in 2023, he led Spurs to the UEFA Europa League title, his first major honour, in 2025, his final season, while also ending a 17-year trophy drought for the club.

A full international since 2010, Son has represented South Korea at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cups and is his country's joint top scorer at World Cups, tied with Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan on three goals. Son has also represented South Korea at the 2018 Asian Games, where the team won gold, and the 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 editions of the AFC Asian Cup; Korea was the runner-up in 2015.

Outside of football, Son is viewed as a symbol of national pride in South Korea for his achievements, and has been listed in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 since 2019, where he ranked second in 2024.[18][19][20] In June 2022, Son received the Order of Sport Merit, Cheongnyong class, the highest order of merit for achievement in sports given to a South Korean citizen, for his achievements in football.[21] Son has been credited for having raised the profile of Spurs among South Koreans, with the club's marketing and social media strategy catering extensively to Korean supporters.[22]

  1. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – Squad List: Korea Republic (KOR)" (PDF). FIFA. 29 November 2022. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Son Heung-Min: Overview". Premier League. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Premier League – 2018/2019 – Tottenham Formations Summary". Whoscored.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. ^ [손흥민 성장스토리] 육민관중 NO.9, 대한민국 NO.9 되다 (in Korean). JoongAng Ilbo. 24 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b [창간28주년 기획특집] 28세 손흥민의 성공스토리 – ④ 손흥민, 원주 육민관중으로 전학가다. Kangwon Domin Ilbo (in Korean). 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Son Heung-min: Tottenham forward joins LAFC in permanent move".
  7. ^ "Son Heung-Min Breaks Record as top Asian scorer in Champions League history". Resonate. 18 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Poll: Who is the League's best ever Asian player?". Premier League. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Son Heung-min: 'Top man, top player' and the first Asian to reach 100 Premier League goals". BBC Sport. 8 April 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  10. ^ Wang, Ziye (1 May 2019). "Meet Son Heung-min, The Greatest Asian Soccer Player of Our Time". NextShark. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  11. ^ Hancock, Tom (12 February 2024). "The best Asian footballers ever". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  12. ^ Mumford, Robin (20 April 2024). "The 10 greatest Asian players in football history have been ranked". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  13. ^ "Who is the Greatest Asian Footballer of All Time?". Footballdive. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Ballon d'Or 2019: Son Heung-min of South Korea gets highest-ever rank by an Asian". The Statesman. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Best of Asia : Asia's all-time greatest XI". SoccerGator. 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference AsianTransferRecord was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Golden Boot: Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min finish as Premier League's top scorers". BBC Sport. 22 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Full list of individuals in the 2024 list". 포브스 코리아 (in Korean). 23 April 2024.
  19. ^ Church, Ben (25 November 2019). "How Son Heung-Min 'Sonsation' gripped South Korea". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  20. ^ Masters, James (9 April 2019). "Son Heung-Min: How 'Little Seoul' fell in love with its favorite son". CNN. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Internationals – Sonny awarded Order of Sport Merit, Dejan on target". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  22. ^ Eccleshare, Charlie (18 July 2022). "Son-mania in South Korea: Putting Tottenham on the map in East Asia". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.


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