Jo Hyeon-woo
South Korean footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jo Hyeon-woo (Korean: 조현우; born 25 September 1991) is a South Korean footballer who plays as goalkeeper for K League 1 club Ulsan HD and the South Korea national team.[3][4]
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Jo with South Korea at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Jo Hyeon-woo[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 September 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Seoul, South Korea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Ulsan HD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Chung-Ang University High School | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Sun Moon University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2019 | Daegu FC | 209 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | Ulsan HD | 223 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | South Korea U20 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | South Korea U23 | 7[α] | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | South Korea | 47 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 28 March 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
Jo was raised by his mother and father who was a gymnast in Seoul. Jo decided to become a goalkeeper when he saw Kim Byung-ji's lead while watching 1998 France in elementary.[5] He later said, "I was excited about playing football after watching the World Cup as I could be someone else's dream."[6] In his fifth grade, the football coach of Shinjeong Elementary School Ham Sang-heon asked for the best goalkeeper in the schoolyard as he was worried he would not have a goalkeeper. The children pointed to Jo. The coach tested Jo by making him save several shots. This would be the beginning of his career. He has been the main goalkeeper and has played in national tournaments ever since. In response, his old coach said "It was not once or twice that teams won because of Jo's success in the penalty shoot-out".[7]
Club career
After graduating from Sun Moon University, Jo entered the 2013 K League 1 draft and was selected by Daegu FC.[8] He failed to prevent the relegation of his team in his first professional season, and had to compete in the K League 2. Since the 2015 season, Jo evolved into Daegu's first-choice goalkeeper and became the best goalkeeper in the K League 2. He finally helped Daegu promote to the K League 1 in 2016. He also contributed to Daegu's first Korean FA Cup title in 2018.
After a successful career in Daegu, Jo joined Ulsan Hyundai on 20 January 2020.[9] He contributed to Ulsan's three consecutive K League 1 titles from 2022 to 2024, and was named the K League 1 Most Valuable Player in 2024. He became the second goalkeeper to win the K League 1 MVP award, following Lee Woon-jae.[10]
Jo played in three group stage matches for Ulsan at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, but lost all three matches.[11] He blocked 10 out of 11 shots on target in the last group stage match against Borussia Dortmund.[12] FIFA website reminded readers of his performance against Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, describing him as the "German hangman".[13] Despite his effort to bring the first victory, Ulsan lost 1–0 without scoring.[14]
International career
Early career
In November 2015, Jo was called up for South Korea's national team by manager Uli Stielike to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Laos and Myanmar.[15] He was selected as the national representative for the EAFF E-1 Football Championship in 2017 winning the competition's best goalkeeper award.[16]
2018 World Cup
In May 2018, Jo was named in South Korea's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[17] Originally expected to be the third-choice keeper, Jo made his international debut in a major competition.[18][19] His performances in the first two matches against Sweden and Mexico were impressive, despite both ending in defeats for South Korea. He was lauded particularly for his point-blank save against Swedish striker Marcus Berg which put him in the spotlight. Jo then played a prominent role in Germany's historic elimination from the first round of a World Cup for the first time since 1938 with a stellar performance, earning him the Man of the Match award.[20] Jo made seven saves without conceding any goals.[4] Despite this performance, South Korea learned after the match that they had been eliminated from the tournament due to Sweden beating Mexico (South Korea needed Mexico to beat Sweden to advance).[21] South Korea finished ahead of Germany in Group F, placing third.
2018 Asian Games
Jo was named in the South Korean under-23 team for the 2018 Asian Games as an over-aged player. He appeared in two matches against Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan in the group stage and finalized them with clean sheets. He also played in the round of 16 against Iran, but he was injured in this match. He was replaced by Song Bum-keun in the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan, but Song conceded three goals. Song received criticisms for his poor performance, and so Jo appeared again in semi-finals and final. He contributed to South Korea's gold medal by conceding only two goals in the tournament and was subsequently exempt from mandatory military service.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Daegu FC | 2013 | K League 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | K League 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | K League 2 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | K League 2 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | K League 1 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | K League 1 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | K League 1 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | ||
| Total | 209 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 225 | 0 | ||
| Ulsan HD | 2020 | K League 1 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | K League 1 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8[b] | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 2022 | K League 1 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | K League 1 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | K League 1 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11[b] | 0 | — | 53 | 0 | ||
| 2025 | K League 1 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 41 | 0 | |
| 2026 | K League 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Total | 223 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 279 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 432 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 504 | 0 | ||
- Appearances in AFC Champions League Elite
- Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
International
- As of match played 28 March 2026
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 2017 | 3 | 0 |
| 2018 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 47 | 0 | |
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Daughter Thieves | Himself | [24] |
Honours
Daegu FC
Ulsan HD
South Korea U23
South Korea
Individual
- K League 2 Best XI: 2015, 2016[25][26]
- K League All-Star: 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025[27][28][29][30][31][32]
- K League 1 Best XI: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][10]
- EAFF Championship Best Goalkeeper: 2017[40]
- AFC Champions League All-Star Squad: 2021[41]
- K League 1 Most Valuable Player: 2024[10]
Notes
- Includes five appearances as an overage player in Asian Games.
