Hong Myung-bo (57), the first head coach in the history of South Korean football to lead the national team in two separate World Cup campaigns, has stepped down in a disappointing exit, repeating the nightmare from 12 years ago.

Hong announced his resignation during a press conference held at the Chivas Verde Valle training ground in Zapopan, Mexico, today (June 29), one day after the team's elimination from the group stage was confirmed.

The team led by Hong was eliminated early from the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, which expanded to 48 participating nations.

The team had been calculating various scenarios until the very end, hoping to secure a wildcard ticket—awarded to the top eight teams among the 12 third-place finishers in each group. However, following the results of matches in other groups on the final day of the group stage on June 28, the last glimmer of hope for advancing to the Round of 32 was extinguished.

The team finished in 34th place overall.

Based on the standards of past tournaments with a 32-nation format, this is a disastrous result, effectively no better than failing to reach the group stage of the finals.

The team also earned the ignominious label of the lowest-ranked finish in the country's World Cup history.

The result is particularly painful for Hong, who has been part of seven out of the 12 World Cup tournaments that South Korea has qualified for, which is more than half of the total.

He played in four consecutive World Cups as a player from the 1990 Italy tournament to the 2002 Korea-Japan tournament, and participated as a coach in the 2006 Germany tournament.

He later made his debut as a head coach at the 2014 Brazil World Cup and led the national team again at this North and Central America tournament, 12 years later.

Hong is the only head coach to have taken the helm twice in the history of the country's 12 World Cup appearances.

However, the outcome was devastating.

In the 2014 Brazil tournament, he was eliminated with one draw and two losses amid controversy over his selection process, falling from a hero of the 2002 semifinal run to an icon of failure. He failed to capitalize on this opportunity to restore his honor, which he had sought despite controversies regarding the fairness of his appointment.

Although the team earned more points (3 points) this time than in the Brazil tournament (1 point), the performance is considered the worst when taking the circumstances into account.

It is difficult to avoid the assessment that this was the worst performance in history, especially given that the team had a relatively favorable group draw and a promising environment where they could have looked forward to a favorable path in the knockout stages depending on the group stage results.

The start was promising.

In the first match of Group A, Hong led the team to a 2-1 comeback victory against the Czech Republic, becoming the sixth head coach in South Korean football history to win a World Cup match, following the likes of Guus Hiddink and Paulo Bento.

He had hoped to secure one more win to become the first South Korean head coach to reach two World Cup victories.

However, the team suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat against host nation Mexico in the second match despite a strong performance, due to a defensive error. In the third match, where a draw would have been enough to advance to the Round of 32, the team self-destructed with a 0-1 loss to South Africa, a team considered to be of a lower caliber.

Ultimately, Hong leaves his post in a lonely exit, having managed only 6 matches—fewer than Guus Hiddink (7 matches)—across two World Cup tournaments, leaving behind a dismal record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 losses.

(Photo: Yonhap News)