Cho Gue-Sung

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 by becoming the No. 3 goalscorer 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 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 and Minnesota United. Cho was attracted to Mainz and Celtic but ended up rejecting their offers.

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.

Cho made his senior debut for South Korea on 7 September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Lebanon.

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.

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 ended up disappointing fans by missing five big chances and scoring one goal in six matches. He received a yellow card after attempting a dive instead of a shot in front of Jordan's goal when Jordan held a 2–0 lead in the 88th minute of the semi-final match.

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024