Lee Kang-in heads straight from Champions League triumph to national team training

SALT LAKE CITY — Lee Kang-in, carrying a UEFA Champions League winner’s medal, has joined the Korean national football team as it prepares for the FIFA World Cup in North and Central America.

Lee arrived at Zions Bank Training Center near Salt Lake City, the site of the national team’s pretournament training camp, at 3:13 p.m. on Monday. The squad, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, has been based in the U.S. city since May 18 for the team’s  high-altitude acclimatization training.

With Lee’s arrival — delayed because his club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), advanced to the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League final — the national team’s full 26-man squad is now assembled.

PSG lifted  the trophy and secured a second consecutive Champions League title after defeating Arsenal 4-3 in a penalty shootout in the final on Saturday. Although Lee did not play in the match, he received a winner’s medal during the awards ceremony.

He then boarded a flight to the United States immediately afterward and arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport earlier in the day.

Despite a tight schedule, he went straight to the training ground after landing. Other players with schedules similar to Lee’s typically skipped team training on their first day and headed to the team hotel to settle in and complete individual workouts.

“Lee Kang-in strongly expressed his desire to join team training as soon as possible,” a national team representative said.

Stepping out of a vehicle in front of the training facility, Lee smiled brightly and waved to reporters.

The Korean national team defeated Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 in a friendly on Saturday and will play its final warm-up match against El Salvador on Wednesday. The team will then travel to Guadalajara, Mexico, on Friday. Guadalajara will serve as both the base camp and the venue for Korea’s first two group-stage matches of the World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 11 and run through July 19. Korea’s first match will be against the Czech Republic on June 12.

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This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY PIH JU-YOUNG [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]