South Korea Men's National Football Team Head Coach Hong Myung-bo Resigns After World Cup Knockout Stage Failure

Seoul. After failing to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup, South Korea's men's national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo has resigned from his post. 

His resignation came after Korea's hope of advancing to the next stage by becoming the best third-placed team, according to the new rule established with the increase in the number of participating teams in the World Cup from 32 to 48, ended on Saturday. 

Following this disappointing exit of the team, intense criticism has started within the country, and President Lee Jae-myung has demanded an investigation into the reasons for the poor performance. Announcing his resignation at a press conference held in Mexico on Sunday, coach Hong apologized to the fans. 

He stated, 'As the head coach, the responsibility for this failure rests entirely on me.' He further added, 'We could not deliver the results our fans expected.' 

Clarifying that he would not be completely detached from Korean football even after leaving the national team, he added, 'I will continue to support the national team from the bottom of my heart and hope that the team will regain the trust and love of the people again.'

South Korea, ranked 32nd in the FIFA rankings and led by star player Son Heung-min, registered two losses and one win in this World Cup. Korea finished third in their Group 'A', behind Mexico and South Africa. After suffering a 1-0 defeat against South Africa in their final match on Thursday, criticism of the coach intensified. 

President Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media platform X, commenting on the team's early exit as a 'failure of organization and staff.' He expressed dissatisfaction, saying, 'When nepotism and favoritism take precedence over ability in selecting a commander, the results are as predictable as fire on paper.'

Hong's appointment was controversial from the beginning. The former defender, who captained the team to the historic semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup, had his team fail to win a single match when he served as coach in 2014. 

When he was reappointed in 2024, fans were outraged, accusing old officials of the Football Association of sidelining foreign candidates who had gone through a rigorous selection process and handing the post to their associates. Speaking about this on Sunday, Hong said, 'Accepting this job was not an easy choice,' and claimed that he made every decision keeping Korean football in mind.

Meanwhile, the national team's official fan club 'Red Devils' issued a statement demanding that Hong kneel before the entire country and leave the football world forever. Local media reported that South Korean police have tightened security at Incheon Airport and other areas following death threats received by him online.