Hyun-Jun Kim ahead of the U-17 World Cup… Hunting two birds with one stone: performance and growth (comprehensive)

Opening in Qatar on the 19th... Group stage match against Uganda, New Caledonia, and Ecuador

“We will show how the players actively make decisions and respond on the pitch.”

(Doha [Qatar] = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-ho = "We will kill two birds with one stone - the growth of our players and our performance in competitions - by fighting boldly and fearlessly in our own style!"

When asked about the goal of this tournament, Kim Hyun-jun (43), coach of the Korean U-17 soccer team, who will participate in the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which opens in Doha, Qatar, on the 19th (Korean time), placed more emphasis on the growth of young players, saying, "Performance is important, but I hope it will be an opportunity for the players who have prepared for this tournament for nearly two years to grow to the next level."

The U-17 national team, led by coach Kim Hyun-jun, successfully advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup held in Saudi Arabia last May and won a ticket to the World Cup finals.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar every year for five years starting in 2025, will be held this year from the 19th to December 13th.

A total of 48 countries are divided into 12 groups of 4 teams and play in the group stage, and then the 24 teams ranked 1st and 2nd in each group and the top 8 teams among the 3rd place teams advance to the round of 32 tournament.

'Kim Hyun-jun-ho', who is tied up in Group B, will start with the first group match against Uganda on the 19th, then face New Caledonia on the 22nd and Ecuador on the 25th. All three games will be played at the Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar.

Korea's best ever results are the quarterfinals achieved in the 1987 tournament when 16 teams participated, the 2009 tournament where 24 teams participated, and the 2019 tournament. In last year's competition, they were eliminated in the round of 32.

In particular, during the 2009 Nigeria Tournament, Son Heung-min (LAFC), the ‘captain’ of the adult national team who developed into a ‘world-class striker’, scored three goals and led the team to advance to the quarterfinals.

Coach Kim Hyun-jun met with Yonhap News at the national team's residence in Doha, Qatar on the 12th and expressed his determination and aspirations ahead of the tournament.

Coach Kim, who took the helm of the U-16 national team in July of last year and started to enjoy the joys and sorrows with the 'Little Taegeuk Warriors', said when asked about his goal for the tournament, "I am nervous and excited ahead of the tournament. I have been preparing for this tournament for two years in the long term and one year in the short term. The first goal is to express the preparation process without filtering on the ground. The second goal is to pass the group stage and continue to advance one level from the tournament as there is a sense of weight as a member of the national team."

The U-17 national team uses a flexible tactic that switches to three-back depending on the game situation, based on the 4-2-3-1 tactic.

He emphasized, “The players have a pure side, so they are all saying, ‘Let’s win,’ but the best performance ever is in the quarterfinals.” He added, “Performance is important, but it should be a stage where the players can grow to the next level. The best goal is for the players to express their colors on the field and not be intimidated, but to properly show what we can do.”

He added, "The fact that the competition has changed to a one-year cycle is an important opportunity for players to experience international competitions more often. As they are youth players, we are paying a lot of attention to demonstrating the ability to actively judge, decide, and respond on the field."

Coach Kim explained, "As we prepared for the tournament, we focused a lot on competition and pressure in limited space," and added, "The players' ability to judge and make decisions on their own has improved a lot. However, scenes where the team breaks down and concedes a goal in a one-on-one match against talented players from the opposing team, or a lack of decision-making power in the final third, need to be further improved over the remaining period."

In particular, he emphasized, "Before this tournament, we prepared the slogan, 'Let us be the protagonists of the game,'" and "It is important to own and dominate the ball, but it is also important to not be intimidated and face the opponent confidently. As these players are the future of Korean soccer, I hope that they will achieve both goals of growth and performance by boldly competing in our own style."

Meanwhile, Coach Kim, who has been working as a full-time coach of the Football Association since 2022, did not fail to point out that there are limitations to the development of youth football.

He said, "Compared to overseas, our country's youth system structure leaves a lot to be desired. Although education and soccer are well aligned in advanced soccer countries, in Korea, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism do not cooperate properly, so even if the soccer association tries to introduce a good system, it does not work well."