Kim Joo-sung

Kim joined the Daewoo Royals in 1987. In his first professional season, he won the K League and was named the K League Young Player of the Year.^[5] Bundesliga club VfL Bochum signed him on loan in 1992, yet he struggled to adapt to the new environment and suffered relegation.^[6] Later on, Kim helped Bochum win the 1993–94 2. Bundesliga before coming back to South Korea at Daewoo's request.^[7][8] Playing a key part in the Daewoo Royals' title win, he became 1997's K League MVP.^[9] Two years later, Kim announced his retirement, with the Royals also retiring his number 16.^[10]

Kim was selected for the South Korea national team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, playing in a major competition for the first time. He also played for South Korea in the 1986 Asian Games, winning a gold medal.

Afterwards, Kim became the greatest footballer in Asia and South Korea. In the 1988 AFC Asian Cup, he performed a key role with great dribbles, leading South Korea to the final. He became the Most Valuable Player of the tournament,^[11] although South Korea lost to Saudi Arabia after the penalty shoot-out in the final. He was also named the Most Outstanding Player in the Asian qualification of the 1990 FIFA World Cup after South Korea won the competition without a defeat.^[12] He was voted Asian Footballer of the Year for three consecutive years from 1989 to 1991.^[13]

Kim's domination over Asia interested European clubs at the time. However, he showed poor performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, failing to live up to their expectations.^[14] He could go to Europe two years after the end of the World Cup.

On 8 October 1991, he played for the official World XI against Germany in a charity match organised by FIFA.

In September 2003, Kim attended a sports management masters course at De Montfort University, Leicester until February 2004, when his studies took him to Switzerland.

Club

More information Club, Season ...

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Busan Daewoo Royals	1987	K League	28	10	?[a]	?	—		28	10
	1988	K League	10	3	?[a]	?	—		10	3
	1989	K League	8	2	?[a]	?	—		8	2
	1990	K League	9	2	—		—		9	2
	1991	K League	37	14	—		—		37	14
	1992	K League	8	0	—		1	0	9	0
	1994	K League	3	0	—		0	0	3	0
	1995	K League	25	1	—		5	1	30	2
	1996	K League	20	2	?[b]	?	6	0	26	2
	1997	K League	16	0	?[b]	?	18	0	34	0
	1998	K League	13	0	?[b]	?	15	0	28	0
	1999	K League	26	0	?[b]	?	7	0	33	0
	Total		203	34	?	?	52	1	255	35
VfL Bochum (loan)	1992–93	Bundesliga	13	0	0	0	—		13	0
	1993–94	2. Bundesliga	21	4	1	0	—		22	4
	Total		34	4	1	0	0	0	35	4
Career total			237	38	1	0	52	1	290	39

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1. [a]

   Appearance(s) in Korean National Championship
2. [b]

   Appearance(s) in Korean FA Cup

International

More information National team, Year ...

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
South Korea	1985	8	3
	1986	10	1
	1987	5	1
	1988	6	2
	1989	8	1
	1990	18	4
	1991	5	1
	1992	0	0
	1993	4	0
	1994	5	1
	1995	1	0
	1996	6	0
Career total		76	14

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More information Competition, Apps ...

Appearances and goals by competition

Competition	Apps	Goals
Friendlies	14	3
Minor competitions	19	3
Asian Games	11	3
AFC Asian Cup	9	2
Summer Olympics	1	0
FIFA World Cup qualification	13	3
FIFA World Cup	9	0
Total	76	14

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Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

More information No., Date ...

List of international goals scored by Kim Joo-sung

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 July 1985	Seoul, South Korea	1	Indonesia	2–0	2–0	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	30 July 1985	Jakarta, Indonesia	2	Indonesia	4–0	4–1	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	3 December 1985	Los Angeles, United States	5	Mexico	1–0	1–2	Friendly
4	28 September 1986	Seoul, South Korea	15	China	2–1	4–2	1986 Asian Games
5	14 June 1987	Daejeon, South Korea	21	Thailand	2–0	4–2	1987 Korea Cup
6	6 December 1988	Doha, Qatar	26	Japan	2–0	2–0	1988 AFC Asian Cup
7	9 December 1988	Doha, Qatar	27	Qatar	2–0	3–2	1988 AFC Asian Cup
8	20 October 1989	Singapore	35	China	1–0	1–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	28 July 1990	Beijing, China	44	Japan	2–0	2–0	1990 Dynasty Cup
10	23 September 1990	Beijing, China	49	Singapore	2–0	7–0	1990 Asian Games
11					5–0
12	11 October 1990	Pyongyang, North Korea	54	North Korea	1–0	1–2	Friendly
13	9 June 1991	Seoul, South Korea	57	Indonesia	2–0	3–0	1991 Korea Cup
14	11 June 1994	Duncanville, United States	66	Honduras	3–0	3–0	Friendly

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Busan Daewoo Royals

• K League 1: 1987, 1991, 1997^[15]
• Korean National Championship: 1989^[15]
• Korean League Cup: 1997, 1997+, 1998+^[16]

VfL Bochum

• 2. Bundesliga: 1993–94^[17]

South Korea B

• Summer Universiade silver medal: 1987^[18]

South Korea

• Asian Games: 1986^[19]
• AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 1988^[20]
• Dynasty Cup: 1990^[21]

Individual

• FIFA World XI: 1991^[22]
• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 1988^[11]
• AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 1988^[11]
• FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Most Outstanding Player: 1989^[12]
• IFFHS Asian Men's Player of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1991^[13]
• IFFHS Asia's Player of the 20th Century runner-up: 1999^[3]
• IFFHS Asian Men's Team of the 20th Century: 2021^[23]
• MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998^[24]
• Dynasty Cup Most Valuable Player: 1990^[25]
• Korean FA Best XI: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988^{[26][27][28][29]}
• Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1991^[30]
• K League Rookie of the Year: 1987^[5]
• K League 1 Best XI: 1987, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1999^{[31][32][33][9][34]}
• K League All-Star: 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998^{[35][36][37][38]}
• K League 1 Most Valuable Player: 1997^[9]
• K League '90s All-Star Team: 2003^[39]
• K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013^[40]
• K League Hall of Fame: 2025^[41]