Mexico and South Africa, which are in the same group as South Korea, also reported a "disastrous defeat" and "a warning sign for Korea in front of the World Cup."

*This content was translated by AI.

Mexico and South Africa, which belong to the same group, also reported related news in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup after the South Korean national soccer team suffered a helpless defeat by Ivory Coast. The news of the Korean national team's crushing defeat, which was initially drawing attention as a fierce competitor at the World Cup, seems to have come as a shock to other national teams in the same group as the World Cup.

Mexican media NextMex OPCR10 said on the 29th (Korea time), "South Korea, which was considered one of Mexico's rivals in the World Cup group stage (Group A), was hit hard by the loss to Ivory Coast," adding, "It is a surprising result in that South Korea has recently won three straight A matches and been in the best condition."

The media added, "After this defeat, we will have to see if South Korea will be able to rebound immediately or if this defeat will be a warning sign ahead of the World Cup."

On the same day, the South African edition of Flash Score, a soccer statistics media outlet, also said, "Cote d'Ivoire showed an overwhelming performance and won a one-sided victory over South Korea," adding, "South Korea, which failed to take advantage of the opportunity early in the game, allowed the first goal in the 30th minute of the first half, and Simone Adingra (Monaco)'s additional goal in the extra time of the first half gave Hong Myung-bo Team a nightmare."

The media said, "It was incredibly South Korea's third goal of the day that even Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) shot hit the post," adding, "The African team's fourth goal was a harsh result for the South Korean national team." "South Korea's recent three-game winning streak came to an end suddenly, and Ivory Coast won a victory that boosted morale (before the World Cup)."

South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, was defeated 0-4 in a warm-up match against Ivory Coast at Stadium MK in Miltonkins, England, on the 28th (Korea Standard Time). On this day, South Korea allowed a large number of runs as the three-back defense completely collapsed, and the bad luck of shooting twice in the first half and once in the second half hit the opponent's goalpost overlapped.

It is the first time in four games that Hong Myung-bo Team lost the A-match by allowing more than four runs since the 0-5 defeat against Brazil in October last year. At that time, Brazil was a world-class strong team ranked sixth in FIFA rankings, but Ivory Coast was ranked 37th, 15 places lower than South Korea (22nd).

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*This content was translated by AI.