"Hong Myung-bo is 44th out of 48 teams in Hong Myung-bo Team." 英 Guardian's "Shock Assessment" came out.

*This content was translated by AI.

A shocking analysis by the Guardian, a leading British daily newspaper, showed that the Korean national soccer team is the 44th out of 48 teams participating in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup. This means that the anxious gaze toward Hong Myung-bo Team is not just the gaze of domestic soccer fans.

On the 2nd (Korea time), the British Guardian unveiled the power ranking based on the history of 48 teams that confirmed their advance to the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup finals and recent performances. In this ranking, South Korea ranked 44th, the fifth behind the World Cup finalists. It is a truly shocking ranking.

The Guardian said, "Coach Hong Myung-bo responded to a question about the use of Son Heung-min (34, LAFC) as a starting player, saying, 'It's too early to mention it.' "This was a question that I couldn't even imagine until recently," he said, adding that the controversy surrounding Son Heung-min's performance was first reported.

"However, Son Heung-min is not the only concern for the Korean national team, which lost 0-4 to Ivory Coast," he said, adding, "There are concerns that all this situation is similar to the gloomy atmosphere during the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when head coach Hong Myung-bo took the helm of the national team for the first time." At that time, Hong Myung-bo Team was eliminated from the group stage with one draw and two losses, and coincidentally, at that time, they were defeated 0-4 by African team Ghana in the pre-World Cup warm-up match.

"At the center of the controversy is a three-back tactic consisting of defenders who do not use a three-back tactic in their team," said the Guardian, which even pointed out the controversy over the tactic that Hong Myung-bo is sticking to. "As the antipathy against Coach Hong Myung-bo grew, similar results (against Cote d'Ivoire) were found in the away match in Austria, and some even expected the coach to be replaced." South Korea, which lost 0-1 to Austria, left only a lot of questions about both offense and defense during this A-match. It's not a desirable situation at this point," he pointed out.

The Guardian, which accurately pointed out the various controversies surrounding Hong Myung-bo Team at this point, saw the current history of the Korean national soccer team barely ahead of Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia, Haiti and Curaçao. The African team Cabo Verde and the North-Central American team Curaçao are the first teams to advance to the World Cup finals itself, while Saudi Arabia is 61st in FIFA rankings and Haiti is 83rd. Players such as Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) are considered so-called all-time players, which is more cruel.

It is the eighth of the nine teams in Asia. Korea is lower than Uzbekistan (34th) and Jordan (42nd), who will play in the World Cup for the first time in their history. In Asia, Japan was the only one ranked in the top 10 in eighth place. In terms of ranking alone, it is evaluated as a quarterfinal power. "The only regrettable thing about Japan is that the opposing teams will now evaluate Japan as a bigger target," the Guardian said. "It was a historical moment to beat England for the first time in an Asian team." It was even a game where major main players were absent," he added.

In addition, Mexico, which belongs to Group A with Korea, ranked 16th, South Africa ranked 29th, and Czech Republic, which joined the team after the European playoffs, ranked 35th, respectively. France ranked first overall, followed by Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal, which newly ranked first in the FIFA rankings. In the shock evaluation by foreign media, Hong Myung-bo said on his way home on the 2nd, "Many factors, including the tactical part, have risen to the level where he can play in the finals," adding, "It's a little hard to say what percentage, but it's a lot (of completion)."

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*This content was translated by AI.