[World Cup Live Update] Hong Myung-bo announces resignation directly: "I am stepping down as the national team coach... I sincerely apologize to the people of Korea"

*This content was translated by AI.

Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the South Korean national football team, who was confirmed to be eliminated in the group stage after finishing 34th out of 48 nations, has unexpectedly declared his intention to step down from the managerial post.

On the morning of the 27th (local time), Coach Hong held a press conference at Chivas Verde Valle, the base camp for the South Korean national team for the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup, located in Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico, to officially announce his resignation.

At the event, Coach Hong stated, "I sincerely apologize to all the citizens who love and support South Korean football. I wish to step down from my position as the national team coach," conveying his decision to relinquish the reins.

The commander, who took up the reins again with the aim of restoring honor after experiencing the historic humiliation of being eliminated in the group stage of the Brazil World Cup 12 years ago, is now stepping down from his post following the most shameful disaster in the history of South Korean football in North America.

The second term of the Hong Myung-bo team was marked by constant noise from the process to the result. Since being appointed as the national team commander in July 2024, braving various allegations of special treatment and controversies over fairness, the gaze of football fans had turned cold.

Immediately after taking office, he could not even secure a coaching staff to assist him, wandering aimlessly for the first month, and the controversy over the senior coach's work-from-home arrangement further exposed flaws in the system.

Although he later brought in a large number of coaches from Portugal to build his team, the tactical capabilities shown on the main stage were abysmal. Luck, such as injuries and red cards to key opposing players during the Asian qualifying stage, cooled down immediately upon reaching the main stage.

In fact, the opportunity seized with a victory in the first main stage match against Czech Republic (2-1) turned into poison. After collapsing with a fatal error in the match against host nation Mexico (0-1), they were completely overwhelmed by the local heat and high-altitude environment in the match against South Africa (0-1), which only required a draw, and collapsed without being able to exert any strength. Moreover, the next day after the match against South Africa, he expressed confusion, saying, "According to the data, there is no problem with activity levels, but I am puzzled why they looked slow," and tried to shift the blame to the weather and the players' mental state, which pushed fans' anger to its peak.

Even the scenarios that relied on last resorts to beg for survival turned out to be scenarios that tragically ignored South Korean football. The Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 in Group K, and Algeria drew 3-3 with Austria in Group J, perfectly blocking the last spark of hope that South Korea had been hoping for. On the thorny path where only three out of nine scenarios needed to align simultaneously, only one result occurred: a victory by Spain.

As a result, South Korean football packed its bags with the worst performance in history, finishing 34th out of 48 nations. This marked the lowest ranking in World Cup history since 1982, 44 years later, and brought a flood of shameful records: scoring two goals or fewer in the group stage for the first time in 28 years, and failing to score in two consecutive matches for the first time in 36 years. Hong Myung-bo also became the first person in the world to be eliminated from the World Cup group stage twice as the same coach. This was the ninth time South Korean football has been eliminated in the group stage since the 1954 Switzerland tournament and the first early exit since the 2018 Russia tournament, eight years later.

Amid fierce criticism that he reversed the foundation for advancing to the knockout stage, which was hard-won at the 2022 Qatar tournament, and the golden age of South Korean football into a dark age in an instant, Coach Hong Myung-bo repeated the failure from Brazil 12 years ago and left the managerial post sadly and dishonorably.

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*This content was translated by AI.