Korean actor Jung Ho-yeon carries World Cup trophy onto pitch before tournament final

Korean fashion model and actor Jung Ho-yeon, best known for her role in "Squid Game" (2021), helped carry the World Cup trophy onto the pitch before Sunday's final.

Jung appeared at the ceremony ahead of Spain against Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium. She held one end of the Louis Vuitton trunk that houses the trophy, and Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz held the other.

The two opened the trunk together. Andrés Iniesta, who scored Spain's winner in the 2010 final, lifted the trophy out and handed it to Mario Kempes, who won the 1978 tournament with Argentina.

Jung is a global ambassador for Louis Vuitton, which has made the trophy's travel case for every World Cup since South Africa in 2010. She is the first Korean actor to take part in a World Cup final ceremony.

Spain went on to win 1-0 in extra time, its second title and its first since 2010.

Jung began modeling in 2011 and made her acting debut a decade later in the first season of the Netflix series "Squid Game," which turned her into one of Korea's most recognizable performers. She had her first film lead in "Hope," director Na Hong-jin's science-fiction thriller, which opened in Korean theaters on Wednesday.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]