Begging for 'possibilities' leads to a miserable exit... Advancement to the Round of 32 dashed af...
After three days of false hope, Hong Myung-bo’s team suffered the humiliation of being eliminated from the group stage of the 2026 CONCACAF World Cup. The South Korean national football team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, fell outside the eighth-place cutoff for advancing to the Round of 32 following the Group K matches on the 28th (Korean time). Regardless of the results of the remaining Group J matches on that day, Korea’s elimination was confirmed. This marks the first time in eight years, since the 2018 tournament in Russia, that the Korean football team has failed to advance past the World Cup group stage. Hong Myung-bo’s team attempted to reach the Round of 16 for the third time overall and for the second consecutive time away from home, following their appearances in the Round of 16 in South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022, but they failed to achieve their goal. This marks the ninth time South Korea has been eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup, following the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, the 1986 tournament in Mexico, the 1990 tournament in Italy, the 1994 United States, the 1998 tournament in France, the 2006 tournament in Germany, the 2014 tournament in Brazil, and the 2018 tournament in Russia. Depending on the results of Group J, South Korea will receive a final report card of either 33rd or 34th place. For the first time in this tournament, the number of participating nations has expanded to 48. By the standards of previous tournaments where 32 nations competed, this is a disastrous result, tantamount to failing to even qualify for the finals. Coach Hong, who led the national team to a record of one draw and two losses at the 2014 Brazil tournament and fell from being a key figure in the "semifinal miracle" of the 2002 Korea-Japan tournament to an "icon of failure," is now facing the risk of another downfall as he has failed to conclude his second World Cup opportunity as head coach with success. In particular, unlike the Brazil tournament where he took the helm just one year prior, he was appointed two years ahead of the opening, giving him ample time to prepare. However, with Uzbekistan suffering a 1-3 comeback defeat against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Group K, Korea's elimination was confirmed. It seems even the heavens have abandoned Hong Myung-bo's team. Son Heung-min (LAFC), the "captain" of the Korean football team, who was making his fourth World Cup appearance, showed a clear "aging curve" and ended up with "zero" attacking points. If he had scored just one goal, he could have surpassed Ahn Jung-hwan and Park Ji-sung to set a new record for the most World Cup goals by a Korean player with four goals; however, as Korea failed to advance to the Round of 32, he was not given another opportunity. Audio | AI Anchor Production | Lee Seon #ThisNews ▶ Original Article : https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0545_202606... ▶ Send a Tip : https://mj.ytn.co.kr/mj/mj_write.php ▣ Subscribe to YTN YouTube Channel : http://goo.gl/Ytb5SZ ⓒ YTN Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, and use of AI data are prohibited.
