Cho Gue-sung (; born 25 January 1998) 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 World Cup qualifier against Lebanon. He scored his first international goal on 15 January 2022 in a friendly against Iceland at the Mardan Sports Complex.
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 (although he did score against Saudi Arabia as the Koreans would win on penalties); 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.
Cho received a call-up from Hong Myung-bo to join the 2026 FIFA World Cup squad.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFC Anyang2019K League 2311430—203614Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors2020K League 12345163—3482022K League 18434——1182023K League 112521——146Total431310663—5922Gimcheon Sangmu (draft)2021K League 225821——2792022K League 1231310——2413Total482131——5122Midtjylland2023–24Danish Superliga30122051—37132025–26Danish Superliga2637292—4272026–27Danish Superliga810062—143Total641692205—9323Career total186642592682023981
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSouth Korea20214020221662023102202491202521202652Total4612
Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cho goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Cho Gue-sung No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition1 15 January 2022 Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey 1–0 5–1 Friendly2 27 January 2022 Saida Municipal Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon 1–0 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification3 14 June 2022 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 3–1 4–1 Friendly4 20 July 2022 Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan 3–0 3–0 2022 EAFF Championship5 28 November 2022 Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar 1–2 2–3 2022 FIFA World Cup6 2–27 12 September 2023 St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England 1–0 1–0 Friendly8 16 November 2023 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 1–0 5–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification9 30 January 2024 Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar 1–1 1–1 2023 AFC Asian Cup10 14 November 2025 Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea 2–0 2–0 Friendly11 30 May 2026 South Field, Provo, United States 3–0 5–0 Friendly12 5–0
Honours Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors K League 1: 2020 Korean FA Cup: 2020, 2022
Gimcheon Sangmu K League 2: 2021
Midtjylland Danish Superliga: 2023–24 Danish Cup: 2025–26
South Korea U23 AFC U-23 Championship: 2020
South Korea EAFF Championship runner-up: 2022
Individual K League 2 Best XI: 2019 Korean FA Goal of the Year: 2020 K League Goal of the Month: March 2022 K League All-Star: 2022 K League 1 top goalscorer: 2022 K League 1 Best XI: 2022 Korean FA Cup Most Valuable Player: 2022 Danish Superliga Goal of the Month: September 2025
Notes
References
External links
Cho Gue-sung at KFA Gue-sung Cho at FC Midtjylland Gue-Sung Cho at Danish Superliga