"The poor result came because I made the wrong judgment and decision. It is nothing more, nothing less."

After South Korea suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat to South Africa, finishing third in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage, South Korean national team head coach Hong Myung-bo said he takes full responsibility.

In a press conference following the match against South Africa at Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico, on Thursday (Korea time), Hong said, "On such a big stage, the result is entirely the manager's responsibility," adding, "Ultimately, everything was judged and decided by me."

The biggest talking point of the match was the exclusion of "Captain" Son Heung-min (LAFC) from the starting lineup.

Son had started every World Cup match for the national team since the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

This was the first time in his career that he started a World Cup match on the bench.

Regarding this, Hong explained, "I judged that it would be better to bring Son on after the first 45 minutes when some space opened up, rather than during the first half when the opponent still had plenty of energy."

Deploying Oh Hyeon-gyu (Besiktas) as the lone striker, flanked by Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) in the second line of attack without Son, Hong's squad began to be pushed back by South Africa from the middle of the first half.

Ultimately, they conceded the winning goal to Thapelo Maseko in the 18th minute of the second half.

However, rather than the choice of attackers being the decisive factor in the defeat, the players overall looked extremely sluggish across the board.

When asked if there were any unavoidable factors, such as mass food poisoning, Hong flatly denied it, saying, "There was nothing like that at all. I don't want to make excuses based on such things."

With one win and two losses (3 points), South Korea dropped to third in the group, failing to secure automatic qualification for the Round of 32.

The team is now left waiting for the results of other groups to see if they can advance to the Round of 32.

Below is the Q&A with Coach Hong.

-- It was a poor performance overall. The players looked very sluggish. Did they suffer from mass food poisoning before the match? Were there any unavoidable factors?

▲ Although the performance was not good, there was nothing of the sort in our team. I do not want to attribute the reason to such things. It is true that this was the worst match we played out of the three group stage games.

-- What was the reason for such a poor performance?

▲ We speak through results. In the preparation process, we prepare based on how well we can execute our plans to achieve a good result. If we knew the result beforehand, we would do it that way, but we cannot. When a result like this comes out, many excuses can be made, but on such a big stage, the result is entirely the manager's responsibility. Ultimately, everything was judged and decided by me, and because I made the wrong judgment and decision, the result was poor. It is nothing more, nothing less.

-- I would like to ask about the impact of the weather. Was arriving in the hot city of Monterrey too early a problem?

▲ I do not think we arrived too early. We knew the third match would be played here and prepared sufficiently, but since there is a significant environmental difference compared to Guadalajara, I think it had an impact. Our players fully understood how they needed to play and knew how to close out this match. However, they showed signs of rushing after conceding the goal. As a result, we lost the match. I thought we had prepared well for this World Cup. It was all my choice.

-- What was the background behind leaving Son Heung-min out of the starting lineup?

▲ I judged that it would be better to bring Son on after the first 45 minutes when some space opened up, rather than during the first half when the opponent still had plenty of energy.

-- Did you analyze South Africa tactically before going in? Or were there areas you failed to cope with?

▲ Of course we prepared. However, compared to what we prepared, there were mistakes in the midfield. Because of that, the players seemed to lose confidence. Ultimately, we knew how we should finish this match, but just like the previous match against Mexico, if we had focused more on wing play, we could have better controlled the opponent's most threatening counterattacks. I think we fell short in that aspect.

(Photo: Yonhap News)