Cho Gue-sung


Cho Gue-sung is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as striker for Danish Superliga club Midtjylland and the South Korea national team.

Club career

Early career in South Korea

Cho played defensive midfielder during his youth career and freshman year at Gwangju University. However, Cho was not evaluated as a good midfielder by his university's head coach Lee Seung-won and changed his position to striker in 2017. In 2019, Cho joined K League 2 side FC Anyang where he was a youth player before. He was selected for the K League 2 Best XI after becoming the third highest scorer in his first professional season and transferred to K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors the next year.
Cho had difficulty proving his worth in his first season at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. In 2021, he joined the military team Gimcheon Sangmu to serve his mandatory duty and to get a stable spot. As a result, he developed physically and technically while being trained at Gimcheon. He became the top goalscorer in the 2022 [K League 1] and led Jeonbuk to the 2022 Korean FA Cup title. In January 2023, Jeonbuk received transfer bids for him from Mainz 05, Celtic, Rangers and Minnesota United. Cho was attracted to Mainz and Celtic but rejected their offers after determining that his physical condition was not good enough to play in Europe.

Midtjylland

On 11 July 2023, Cho signed with Danish Superliga club Midtjylland on a five-year contract for a fee reported to be around £2.6 million. On 22 July 2023, he made his Danish Superliga debut with Midtjylland, scoring in a 1–0 win over Hvidovre. Having a considerable presence at Midtjylland early on, he was selected for the Superliga Team of the Month in July and September. He won the most duels and aerial duels in the 2023–24 Danish Superliga. He successfully performed the role of target man, while helping his team win the league title.
Cho suffered knee pain during the 2023–24 season and underwent knee surgery at the end of the season to remove his meniscus in Italy. Despite anticipating a full recovery by the start of the 2024–25 season, he contracted a bacterial infection which further complicated his rehabilitation and forced him to undergo another operation. This resulted in Cho sitting out the entire 2024–25 season.
On 17 August 2025, Cho made his first appearance in 448 days towards the end of a Superliga match against Vejle. On 29 September, he scored a bicycle kick goal against Randers, which was selected as the Superliga Goal of the Month.

International career

Cho made his senior debut for South Korea on 7 September 2021 in a 2022 [FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round|World Cup qualifier] against Lebanon.
In November 2022, Cho was named to the 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In Korea's second match at the tournament, he scored two goals against Ghana in an eventual 2–3 defeat, becoming the first South Korean player to ever score 2 or more goals in a single World Cup match. Despite losing that match, the goals proved decisive in ultimately sending Korea through to the Round of 16 on goal difference, at the expense of Uruguay. Due to his performance in 2022 FIFA World Cup, Cho proved to be one of the greatest players in the air in Qatar. The young Korean forward won 21 aerial duels, putting him second in terms of success in the air among all players at the World Cup, after Morocco's Youssef En-Nesyri.
Cho was called up for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, and was expected to play as an influential striker for the South Korean national team during Hwang Ui-jo's absence. However, he disappointed Koreans by missing five big chances and winning only 35% of duels while scoring one goal in six matches ; especially after receiving a yellow card for diving instead of shooting in front of Jordan's goal when Jordan held a 2–0 lead in the 88th minute during the semi-finals.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
115 January 2022Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey1–05–1Friendly
227 January 2022Saida Municipal Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
314 June 2022Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea3–14–1Friendly
420 July 2022Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan3–03–02022 EAFF Championship
528 November 2022Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar1–22–32022 FIFA World Cup
628 November 2022Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar2–22–32022 FIFA World Cup
712 September 2023St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England1–01–0Friendly
816 November 2023Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea1–05–02026 FIFA World Cup qualification
930 January 2024Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar1–11–1
2023 AFC Asian Cup
1014 November 2025Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea2–02–0Friendly

Honours

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Gimcheon Sangmu
Midtjylland
South Korea U23
South Korea
Individual