▲ South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo holds a press conference to announce his resignation at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, on the morning of June 28 (local time), following the team's elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage.
South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo has stepped down from his position, taking responsibility for the team's failure to advance to the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Hong announced his resignation while meeting with reporters on the morning of June 29, the day after the team's group stage elimination was confirmed, at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan, Mexico, which served as the team's base camp.
"I would like to express my sincere apologies to the people," Hong said. "I am stepping down from my position as head coach of the national team. However, this does not mean I have turned my back on South Korean football. I will sincerely cheer for our national team to grow into a team that can once again receive the trust and love of the people."
Appointed on July 8, 2024, Hong's contract was originally set to run through the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, which is scheduled for January 2027.
He is stepping down about six months early following the failure to reach the Round of 32 at the World Cup.
Competing in Group A alongside host nation Mexico, Czech Republic, and South Africa, South Korea was eliminated after finishing third in the group.
After winning their first match against the Czech Republic 2-1, they lost 0-1 to host nation Mexico in the second match, and subsequently lost 0-1 to South Africa in the final match, where a draw would have been enough to secure a spot in the Round of 32.
Following the loss, South Korea was eliminated after falling to 10th place among the 12 third-place teams.
In this tournament, which expanded to 48 participating nations for the first time, South Korea's final ranking was 34th.
Hong, who previously led the national team to a disappointing performance of one draw and two losses at the 2014 Brazil World Cup, has returned his national team captaincy early after failing to achieve success in his second opportunity as head coach at the World Cup.
Hong is the only person in South Korea to have led the national team as head coach in two World Cups.
Throughout the World Cup qualifiers and the tournament, Hong had to manage the team without the full support of fans due to controversy over the fairness of his appointment process.
At the time, allegations arose that the Korea Football Association's National Team Committee had pre-selected Hong without sufficiently reviewing other candidates, and he even suffered the humiliation of being summoned to a National Assembly hearing.
Despite such circumstances, Hong led the team through the final World Cup qualifiers with an undefeated record of 6 wins and 4 draws.
However, public calls for his dismissal never subsided as the team showed inconsistent performance, including consecutive heavy losses in friendly matches against Brazil (0-5) and Ivory Coast (0-4).
This marks the first time in eight years that South Korean football has failed to pass the World Cup group stage since the 2018 Russia tournament.
The national team led by Hong attempted to reach the Round of 16 for the third time in total and the second consecutive time on foreign soil, following the 2010 South Africa and 2022 Qatar tournaments, but failed to achieve their goal.
Hong, who was on his seventh World Cup journey as a player, coach, and head coach, will leave Mexico without a smile.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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