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Cho Wi-je played in South Korea’s second division last year, but now he is heading to the FIFA World Cup 2026 after being called up as a late injury replacement.
The 24-year-old defender has been drafted into South Korea’s squad after Cho Yu-min was ruled out with a foot injury following the 5-0 friendly win over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.
Cho Wi-je was already with the squad as a training partner, and now he is in contention to play against South Korea’s Group A opponents South Africa, the Czech Republic and co-hosts Mexico.
After turning out for Busan IPark in K League 2 until January this year, he was still trying to make sense of his rapid rise when he spoke to reporters on Monday.
“If someone told me last year that I would be going to the World Cup in 2026, I would never have believed that,” he said at the team’s training camp in Utah. “This feels like a dream.”
Cho joined South Korean champions Jeonbuk at the start of the year and impressed in his first taste of top-flight football.
He is now with the national team alongside Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae, the central defender who has played at Europe’s top level for years and has almost 80 caps for his country.
“He has so much experience battling top European players, and I want to pick his brain about that,” Cho said.
“Min-jae is so much quicker than most players, and I have to be quicker on my feet to get to that level.”
Cho got his chance after Cho Yu-min’s World Cup dream ended less than two weeks before their World Cup opener against the Czechs on June 11.
“Yu-min played such an important role in helping us qualify for the World Cup, and it was really tough to see him leave,” said Cho. “To fill his void, I just have to perform as well as I can.”
Goalkeepers: Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan), Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk)
Defenders: Kim Moon-hwan (Daejeon), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Kim Tae-hyon (Kashima Antlers), Park Jin-seob (Zhejiang), Seol Young-woo (Red Star Belgrade), Jens Castrop (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Lee Ki-hyuk (Gangwon), Lee Tae-seok (Austria Wien), Lee Han-beom (Midtjylland), Cho Wi-je (Jeonbuk)
Midfielders: Kim Jin-gyu (Jeonbuk), Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), Paik Seung-ho (Birmingham), Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic), Eom Ji-sung (Swansea), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Lee Dong-gyeong (Ulsan), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Forwards: Son Heung-min (LAFC), Oh Hyeon-gyu (Besitkas), Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland)
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