Yeo Min-ji

Yeo Min-ji
Yeo in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-04-27) 27 April 1993
Place of birth Gimhae, South Korea
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Selangor
Number 17
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2018 Gumi Sportstoto
2019–2020 Suwon UDC
2021–2024 Gyeongju KHNP 33 (15)
2025–2026 JEF United Chiba 5 (0)
2026– Selangor 0 (0)
International career‡
2007–2010 South Korea U17 14 (22)
2011–2012 South Korea U20 7 (0)
2011– South Korea 53 (15)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  South Korea
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
Winner2010 Trinidad and Tobago
AFC Women's Asian Cup
Runner-up2022 India
AFC U-16 Women's Championship
Winner2009 Thailand
EAFF Championship
Runner-up2019 South Korea
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 October 2024
Yeo Min-ji
Hangul
여민지
Hanja
余敏智
RRYeo Minji
MRYŏ Minji

Yeo Min-ji (Korean: 여민지; born 27 April 1993) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a forward for Selangor.

Early life

Yeo became interested in football as a child, playing together with her older brother.[1] She began training in earnest when she joined the football academy at Myeongseo Elementary School in Busan in the fourth grade.[2] She was the top goalscorer when her team achieved a clean sweep of all the domestic tournament titles in 2005.[3]

While playing for Haman Daesan High School and representing South Korea at youth level, Yeo sustained an injury to her right knee which required surgery.[4] Yeo later attended Ulsan College, where she was part of the winning team at the university division of the Korean Women's National Championship.[5]

Club career

Following her performance at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Yeo was one of the most highly anticipated newcomers ahead of the start of the 2014 WK League.[6] She was the third pick at the 2014 WK League draft, signing a three-year contract with Chungbuk Sportstoto.[7] While playing for Sportstoto for five years, she won two Korean Women's National Championship titles with the club, and became the top goalscorer at one of the two tournaments.[8]

After leaving Sportstoto at the end of the 2018 season, Yeo played for Suwon UDC from 2019 to 2020,[9] and Gyeongju KHNP from 2021 to 2024.[10] She was appointed Gyeongju's captain from 2022 to 2024.[11]

In March 2025, South Korean media reported that Yeo's agency had reached a deal with Toppserien club Kolbotn, and left the last procedures including her medical examination.[12] In June, Yeo signed for WE League side JEF United Chiba, contrary to expectations.[13]

International career

Yeo started to train at the national under-20 team when she was 14 years old, but missed out on the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup due to an ACL injury.[3]

While South Korea won their first AFC U-16 Women's Championship title in 2009, Yeo became the top goalscorer of the tournament with 10 goals in five matches.[14][15] She scored hat-tricks against Myanmar and Thailand, the winning goal in a 1–0 win over Japan, and three goals in two matches against North Korea.[16] Her influence was continued until the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, where South Korea won a world competition organised by FIFA for the first time.[17] At the U-17 World Cup, she scored eight goals during six matches, receiving the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe.[18] She was subsequently named the AFC Women's Youth Player of the Year.[19]

After her success as a youth international, Yeo became a regular in the senior squad.[20] She was named in the squad for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, but was unable to play in the finals following a knee injury in training.[9][21]

During the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup,[22] Yeo played all three Group A matches and scored South Korea's only goal at the tournament in a 2–1 defeat to Norway.[16][23]

Honours

Gumi Sportstoto

  • Korean Women's National Championship: 2017, 2018[8]

Suwon UDC

  • Korean Women's National Championship: 2019[24]

Gyeongju KHNP

  • Korean Women's National Championship: 2022[25]

South Korea U17

South Korea

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Sagong, Hyo-eun (22 May 2019). 그라운드의 적막을 깨라 [Break the silence of the ground]. W Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ↑ '한국 여자축구의 미래를 만나다, 여민지 선수' [Meet the future of Korean women's football, Yeo Min-ji]. News Daily (in Korean). 29 January 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 Byun, Hyeon-cheol; Jung, Tae-baek (17 September 2010). U-17 여자월드컵 8강 나이지리아전 4골 1도움 여민지 [Yeo Min-ji, who had four goals and one assist against Nigeria in the U-17 Women's World Cup quarter-finals]. Busan Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  4. ↑ Kim, Jason (26 September 2010). "'Golden' girl Yeo enters record books". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  5. ↑ Park, So-young (17 December 2013). '여자 메시' 여민지, WK리그 3순위로 충북소포츠토토행 ['Female Messi' Yeo Min-ji joined Chungbuk Sportstoto as the third pick at the WK League]. JTBC News (in Korean). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  6. ↑ '여민지 어디로?' WK리그 신인 드래프트 ['Where will Yeo Min-ji go?' WK League draft]. KBS News (in Korean). 10 December 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  7. ↑ Choi, Song-ah (17 December 2013). 여민지, 3순위로 여자 실업축구 스포츠토토 입단 [Yeo Min-ji joined female works team Sportstoto as the third pick]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 구미스포츠토토 전국여자축구선수권 2연패 (in Korean). Yonhap Business TV. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  9. 1 2 Lee, Dong-cheol (21 December 2018). 여자축구 FA최대어 여민지, 수원도시공사로 이적 [Yeo Min-ji, the biggest fish among free agents in women's football, transferred to Suwon UDC]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  10. ↑ Choi, Tae-moon (15 November 2021). '1골 1도움' 여민지 "내가 아닌 경주한수원이 MVP" ['1 goal and 1 assist' Yeo Min-ji "Gyeongju KHNP are MVPs, not me"]. G Economy (in Korean). Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  11. ↑ 경주한수원FC, 2023년 남녀축구팀 주장단 선임 (in Korean). Gyeongju KHNP FC. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  12. ↑ Lee, Ee-jin (14 March 2025). "U-17 여자월드컵 골든볼 여민지도 해외로... 노르웨이팀 입단 앞둬" [U-17 Women's World Cup Golden Ball winner Yeo Min-ji will go abroad... she is ready to join Norwegian team]. Nate (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  13. ↑ Seo, Jung-hwan (18 June 2025). '국대공격수' 여민지, 日WE리그 제프 유나이티드 입단 합의 "많은 것을 배우고 오겠다!" ['National striker' Yeo Min-ji agreed to join Japan's WE League side JEF United "I will come back after learning a lot!"]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Osen. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 Park, Rin (15 November 2009). 女축구, 16세 이하 亞선수권 첫 우승...여민지 득점왕 [Women's football won the AFC U-16 Championship for the first time... Yeo Min-ji is top goalscorer]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Osen.
  15. ↑ '골든듀오' 여민지-김다혜, U-17여자월드컵 8강 조준. Nate (in Korean). The Fact. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Yeo Min-ji" (in Korean). KFA. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Kim, Chang-keum (27 September 2010). "U-17 team secures historic World Cup victory for S.Korea". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  18. ↑ 여민지, 한국 축구 '새역사' 썼다 [Yeo Min-ji wrote 'new history' of Korean football]. Kyongbuk Ilbo (in Korean). 26 September 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  19. 1 2 "Yeo wins AFC Womens Youth Player of Year award". The Korea Times. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  20. ↑ Duerden, John (23 February 2015). "Star players to lead Women's World Cup". The Korea Times. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  21. ↑ "South Korea's Yeo out of Women's World Cup". AFP News. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2025 – via Yahoo News.
  22. ↑ "Past heroics inspire rejuvenated Yeo". FIFA. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  23. ↑ "Norway through to last 16 with two penalties against South Korea". The Guardian. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  24. ↑ 제18회 전국여자축구선수권대회 수원도시공사 여자축구단 우승!. Facebook (in Korean). Suwon UDC. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  25. ↑ 제21회 전국여자축구선수권대회에서 창단이후 첫 우승 (in Korean). Gyeongju KHNP FC. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  26. 1 2 "Yeo Min Ji: I want to be the best". FIFA. 26 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  27. ↑ "Every U-17 Women's World Cup Golden Boot winner". FIFA. 6 November 2025. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
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