Even China delivers a harsh blow: "South Korea failed to advance in 3 of the last 4 World Cups"... Humiliation of watching other teams for three full days also criticized

*This content was translated by AI.

Chinese media outlets extensively covered the early exit of Hong Myung-bo's team from the 2026 North American World Cup qualifiers, highlighting the disappointing record.

The South Korean national football team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, finished its schedule in third place in Group A (1 win, 2 losses, 3 points, goal difference -1) and waited for results from other groups. However, unfavorable outcomes continued, including the Democratic Republic of Congo defeating Uzbekistan 3-1 on the 28th (Korean time), pushing South Korea completely out of the final qualifying spot for the Round of 32 — the eighth-place cutoff among third-place teams.

Chinese outlet "Sina Sports" offered a sober assessment by examining South Korea's recent World Cup performance trends. The outlet stated, "This tournament marked South Korea's 12th appearance in the World Cup finals," and added, "Including this result, South Korea has failed to advance from the group stage in three of the last four World Cups it participated in."

The outlet further explained the powerless conclusion where South Korea, unable to control its own fate, spent three full days anxiously watching other teams' results before ultimately falling below the third-place group cutoff line.

Aiming for its third-ever away tournament appearance following the 2010 South Africa and 2022 Qatar tournaments, South Korea, as pointed out by Chinese media, had to pack its bags after suffering the humiliation of failing to advance from the group stage for the first time since the 2018 Russia tournament — an eight-year gap.

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*This content was translated by AI.