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Seol Young-woo, a starting fullback for Serbian powerhouse Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade), continues his European campaign in the Europa League. The photo shows Seol scoring in his second appearance for Zvezda after joining the club in the 2024 season. That match, held on August 10 (local time), saw Serbia's Red Star claim a 4-1 win over Novi Pazar at home in Round 4 of the 2024-2025 Serbian SuperLiga season. / AP-Yonhap

Seol Young-woo is rebuilding his standing at the club level. Though he was at the center of criticism for underwhelming performances at the 2026 FIFA North/Central America World Cup, he has continued to start consistently and perform well in Europe. Now, with his club Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) moving into the Europa League, it's time for him to prove his value once again.

Seol started and played the full match for Red Star in the second leg of the 2026-2027 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round against Hapoel Beer Sheva FC (Israel) at Rajko Mitić Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, on the 11th (local time). Red Star lost 0-2, going out 0-3 on aggregate, but Seol remained active on both ends of the pitch, fulfilling his role.

In particular, in the 84th minute, he made an aggressive overlapping run and delivered a sharp low cross that created a golden scoring chance. Bruno Duarte's resulting shot was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, so it didn't register as an assist, but the play showed Seol injecting energy into the attack from the flank.

While Red Star failed to reach the Champions League group stage, the club's European journey continues in the Europa League. Having entered Champions League qualifying as Serbia's league champions, Red Star now drops into the Europa League following elimination, giving them another shot at European competition — and giving Seol another opportunity to continue showing his competitiveness.

Seol, who faced criticism for failing to perform up to expectations at the World Cup, is bouncing back quickly. With the national team's World Cup results falling short of expectations, disappointment over the entire defense grew, and Seol found himself at the center of the criticism — compounded not just by his underwhelming performances but also by friction with fans.

Still, his recovery in form at club level is encouraging. If he continues competing for a starting spot every match in Europe and shows off his strengths — attacking involvement, crossing — it would suggest his struggles with the national team stemmed from individual fitness issues or tactical mismatches rather than a genuine decline in ability.

Seol has already proven his value as a fullback on the Asian stage. Capable of playing on either flank and bringing aggressive overlapping runs and a high work rate, he remains highly usable within the national team's tactics. In particular, looking ahead to the next Asian Cup, he's likely to be viewed as a stable fullback option even amid generational turnover on the squad.

To fully shake off the disappointment of the World Cup, he'll need to keep performing well consistently at club level. With Red Star's Champions League run over but their Europa League campaign continuing, Seol has an open opportunity to prove his worth once again on the European stage. Attention now turns to whether strong performances can help turn public opinion around and solidify his place as a key fullback for the national team ahead of next January's Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

                                                                                                          Cheon Hyun-bin