Lee Seung-won

Lee Seung-won (Korean: 이승원; born 6 March 2003) is a South Korean footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Gangwon.

Lee played for a number of teams in Yongin in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea before his performance at the 2021 National High School Competition, where he won the best player award, caught the attention of a number of professional clubs. However, after breaking his toe during a tournament, he was forced to reconsider his options, and eventually enrolled at the Dankook University in 2022.

After playing at Dankook University in the U-League, a number of scouts from K League 1 side Gangwon came to watch Lee, as well as club CEO Lee Young-pyo. At the end of the university season, Gangwon announced that they had signed Lee ahead of the 2023 season. In his first season, he represented Gangwon's 'B' team in the K4 League.

Lee first started representing South Korea at under-19 level in 2022, where he captained the side at a friendly tournament in Lisbon, Portugal. He was called up to the under-20 side in January 2023, for a training camp in Murcia, Spain. The following month, coach Kim Eun-jung called him to the side for the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, where he was named captain. In the first match, against Oman, which ended in a 4–0 win, Lee intercepted a misplaced Omani pass in the first half, before dribbling the ball to the edge of the area and laying it off for Kim Yong-hak to finish to make it 1–0.

Having progressed from their group, South Korea faced China in the quarter-finals, but this game saw Lee leave the field early due to injury. Having beaten China, South Korea qualified automatically for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as well as the semi-finals of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup, where they would face Uzbekistan. Following his injury in the game against China, Lee missed the semi-final penalty shoot out loss to the eventual champions Uzbekistan.

Lee retained the captaincy of the under-20 side for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and in their opening game against one of the top favourites, France, he provided one goal and one assist in a 2–1 win. Following two draws against Honduras and the Gambia, including an assist in the former, Lee notched his third assist of the tournament in a 3–2 win over Ecuador in the round of 16. South Korea then beat Nigeria 1–0 after extra time in the quarter-final, with Lee providing the assist for defender Choi Seok-hyeon to score the only goal of the game.

In the semi-final against Italy, Lee scored the consolation goal in a 2–1 loss, converting a penalty in the first half. He scored another penalty in the third-place playoff game against Israel, which ended in a 3–1 loss. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Lee was awarded the bronze ball, awarded to the third-best player, for his performances. He finished the tournament with three goals and four assists, surpassing the South Korean record set by Lee Kang-in in a FIFA competition, having scored one more goal than Lee Kang-in managed at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Club

As of matches played 25 June 2023

Notes

Individual

• FIFA U-20 World Cup Bronze Ball : 2023