Jong Il-gwan

Jong Il-gwan (Hangul: 정일관, Hancha: 鄭日冠, born 30 October 1992) is a North Korean professional footballer who plays as a striker for DPR Korea Premier Football League club Rimyongsu and the North Korea national team.

He is the all time top scorer for North Korea.

On 24 November 2010, he was crowned AFC Youth Player of the Year.

Jong made his senior international debut for North Korea on 26 March 2011 against Iraq in a 2–0 defeat.

On 5 June 2012, numerous reports surfaced linking the player with a move to Newcastle United with later reports strongly linking him with FK Partizan and PSV Eindhoven.

Jong made his EAFF preliminaries debut in 2012 against Chinese Taipei.

He scored his first competition goal in a 5-0 win against Guam in the second preliminary round.

Jong scored a brace in 2014 against the same opposition for the second preliminary round, helping his side qualify for the final tournament.

He scored another goal against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong in 2016 for the 2017 edition's second preliminaries.

He was transferred to Swiss Super League club FC Luzern in July 2017, signing a two-year contract.

On 1 August 2022, Jong won his club's first ever Hwaebul Cup after scoring a 96th minute winner against April 25 in a 2-1 win.

On 16 December 2017, Jong scored a stunning free kick against China in a 1-1 draw.

For the 2019 Asian Cup, Jong was named captain of the national team.

He was sent off in the match against Qatar towards the end of the match.

On 21 November 2023, Jong scored his first international hat-trick against Myanmar.

Jong is known for being a pacy and technical forward who can play on either flanks or up top.

He has an expert first touch and vision and has an eye for exploiting spaces in between defenders.

Jong is also a set piece specialist, scoring multiple free kicks in his international career.

North Korea U20

North Korea

Individual