Son Heung-min was born on 8 July 1992 in Chuncheon, South Korea. Guided closely by his father Son Woong-jung, he left Korea as a teenager for Hamburg's academy in Germany, where his two-footed finishing and direct running quickly separated him from most Asian prospects of his generation.
After breaking through at Hamburg, Son moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and became a consistent Bundesliga attacker. Tottenham Hotspur signed him in 2015, and his decade in north London made him one of the greatest Asian players in football history. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2021-22, became Spurs captain in 2023 and helped the club win the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League before leaving.
In August 2025 Son joined Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer in a record MLS deal. As of May 2026 he plays for LAFC, where his arrival transformed the club's global profile and gave him a new competitive platform before his fourth World Cup.
For South Korea he debuted in 2010 and has been the national team's defining player for more than a decade. He played at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups, captained the side in Qatar, helped Korea reach the 2022 round of sixteen and remained captain through the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and 2026 qualifying campaign.
Standing around 1.84 m, Son is a two-footed forward who can play from the left, through the middle or as a second striker. His explosive counterattacking, finishing with either foot and leadership make him comparable to a hybrid of Cristiano Ronaldo's direct wide-forward years and Park Ji-sung's national-team responsibility, while his status in Asian football is essentially singular.