▲ South Korea's head coach Hong Myung-bo instructs his players during the 2026 World Cup Group A second match against Mexico at the Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico, on June 18 (local time).
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, it is true that concerns outweighed expectations for head coach Hong Myung-bo (57).
However, regardless of the mixed reviews from the outside, he is now just one win away from reaching the highest peak among all-time Korean managers.
Hong, who joined the ranks of winning managers by leading a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory against the Czech Republic in the first group stage match, will write a new chapter in Korean football history if he wins the third match against South Africa at Monterrey Stadium at 10 a.m. on June 25 (KST).
Previously, no Korean manager had ever recorded two wins in the World Cup finals.
Even expanding the scope to foreign coaches, the only manager to achieve two or more wins is Guus Hiddink (3 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses; penalty shootout wins are recorded as draws), who led the semi-final miracle of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
For Hong, the victory in the first match was also a result of shaking off a painful past.
Becoming the first manager in Korean football history to lead the national team in two World Cup finals, he had previously exited bitterly with a disappointing record of one draw and two losses during the 2014 Brazil World Cup, his first as a manager.
Taking the helm of the national team again 12 years later for this World Cup, he finally secured his emotional first victory as a manager.
Despite conceding an early blow from a Czech Republic set piece, South Korea pulled off a thrilling comeback victory with Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) scoring the equalizer in the 22nd minute of the second half and Oh Hyeon-gyu (Beşiktaş) netting the winner in the 35th minute of the second half.
With this victory, Hong became the sixth manager of the Korean national team to record a win in the World Cup finals.
Previously, starting with Hiddink in 2002, Dick Advocaat (2006 Germany, 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss), Huh Jung-moo (2010 South Africa, 1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses), Shin Tae-yong (2018 Russia, 1 win, 2 losses), and Paulo Bento (2022 Qatar, 1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses) have tasted victory.
Looking only at Korean managers, he is the third in history, following Huh Jung-moo and Shin Tae-yong.
Manager Huh Jung-moo, who led South Korea to its first-ever away round of 16 in the 2010 South Africa tournament, recorded his first win by defeating Greece 2-0 in the opening group stage match.
Afterwards, they advanced to the round of 16 following a loss to Argentina (1-4) and a draw with Nigeria (2-2), before ending the tournament with a 1-2 loss to Uruguay.
Manager Shin Tae-yong, who led the team at the 2018 Russia World Cup, left a monumental victory in football history despite being eliminated in the group stage.
After consecutive losses to Sweden (0-1) and Mexico (1-2), they completely defeated then-world-number-one Germany 2-0 in the final match, writing the so-called 'Miracle of Kazan'.
Now, if Hong adds just one more win in the remaining matches of this tournament, he will surpass his predecessors to become the first Korean manager to reach two wins in the World Cup.
Whether he, who is continuing his seventh World Cup journey as a player, coach, and manager, can put a thrilling exclamation mark on this turnaround will be decided on the pitch in the final group stage match in two days.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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