The South Korean national football team secured a decisive 5-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday in a friendly match held at South Field of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, as part of its preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Despite the lopsided victory, the warmup match sparked intense criticism from fans who questioned the competitive value of facing a team ranked 102nd in the FIFA rankings, compared to South Korea's position at No. 25.
"They bring a team ranked 102nd in the FIFA rankings and call it a World Cup warmup match," wrote one user on X, according to the Korea Herald.
"Other teams don't play warmups against sides ranked lower than 100th. The Korea Football Association must be out of its mind."
The current backlash follows previous friendly defeats in March against Ivory Coast and Austria, which saw South Korea drop three spots in the FIFA rankings, alongside growing public frustration with KFA President Chung Mong-gyu and head coach Hong Myung-bo.
"They probably just scheduled weaker teams because they were tired of fans complaining," wrote another fan on social media.
Altitude Adaptation Justifies Opponent Choice
However, soccer observers offered a practical justification for the choice of location and opponent, noting that the team needed to adapt to high-altitude environments ahead of their World Cup group-stage matches in Guadalajara, Mexico, which is located more than 1,500 meters above sea level.
"The Korean team has gone to Salt Lake City to prepare for the World Cup because its matches will be played in Guadalajara, a high-altitude city," said soccer commentator Lee Hwang-jae during a YouTube panel discussion.
"There are not many teams preparing with altitude in mind, apart from South Korea and a few others."
Lee further explained that finding top-tier opponents willing to play under high-altitude conditions shortly before the tournament presented significant scheduling challenges.
"For us, adapting to altitude is necessary," Lee said.
"We need to keep playing matches under those conditions, but I think it was difficult to find a suitable opponent."
He added that other teams had little incentive to risk draining their players at high altitudes when most of their matches would occur at lower elevations.
"There is little reason for other teams to play at 1,600 meters (or similar) above sea level and risk draining their players when most of their matches will be held in lower-altitude cities such as those in California," Lee said.
Former national team player Lee Chun-soo suggested that matches against lower-ranked teams could provide unique opportunities to refine offensive strategies and build confidence.
"You can either play stronger teams, gain experience and try to perform better at the World Cup, or play a relatively weaker team, work on scoring patterns and incorporate what players have been doing in training into the match," Lee said.
K League commentator Kang Seong-joo noted that South Korea's early World Cup schedule may have limited the pool of available opponents.
"South Korea scheduled its friendlies earlier because it was placed in Group A with Mexico, meaning its matches begin earlier," Kang said.
"That is also why there was not a wide range of teams to choose from."
Son Heung-min Leads with Brace in Tactical Formation
On the pitch, South Korea utilized an efficient modified 3-4-2-1 formation that transitioned to a 4-2-3-1 system during attacks, leading to goals from Son Heung-min, Cho Gue-sung, and Hwang Hee-chan.
National team debutant Lee Ki-hyeok delivered a standout full-90-minute performance as the left stopper in the back three, achieving a 95% pass accuracy rate according to football statistics specialist SofaScore.
"Lee Ki-hyeok's performance was excellent, even though it was essentially his A-match debut," said Coach Hong Myung-bo in a post-match interview with NEWS1.
Prior to the squad selection, Hong had emphasized the player's flexibility when naming the final roster.
"Lee Ki-hyeok is a versatile player capable of playing both as a midfielder and a full-back," said Coach Hong.
Captain Son Heung-min led the offensive charge by scoring a first-half brace, utilizing the unfamiliar jersey No. 13 as part of a tactical move by the team to obscure details from future World Cup opponents.
Son broke the scoreless tie in the 40th minute by redirecting a cross from Kim Moon-hwan, then added a penalty kick two minutes later after Bae Jun-ho drew a foul in the box, bringing his international goal tally to 56.
"As important as individual skills are, I think confidence is just as crucial," Son said, as reported by the Korea Times.
"I think our confidence may have been low after losing twice in March (to Ivory Coast and Austria), and we will try to build on this and keep the momentum going."
The captain emphasized that a high-scoring victory should not be dismissed lightly, regardless of the opposition.
"Regardless of opponents, it's not easy to win 5-0," Son added. "So I hope people don't take this for granted.
The players deserve credit and I think we're moving in the right direction."
Son urged his teammates to maintain perspective and stay grounded as they prepare for higher stakes in the upcoming tournament.
"We should all try to stay humble. We won 5-0 today but we have also lost 5-0 before," Son said.
"We have even bigger matches awaiting us and we shouldn't get too excited when we win or too disappointed when we lose.
We have to fix whatever we need to fix going forward."
When questioned about the specific tactical areas that required refinement before the tournament, Son declined to elaborate publicly.
"It's something we will talk about internally because we want to keep this group tight," he said.
"I don't think it does us any good to discuss whatever we need to improve publicly."
Son concluded by prioritizing collective success over individual scoring milestones, despite nearing the all-time Korean men's goal-scoring record.
"I think it's more important for me to play well for the team, and it doesn't always have to be about scoring goals," Son said.
"Making sacrifices for the team and doing whatever the team needs is my favorite thing to do, something that I've valued more than anything throughout my career."
South Korea is scheduled to play its final pre-World Cup warmup match against El Salvador on Wednesday at BYU South Field before opening its tournament campaign against the Czech Republic on June 12.
