A humiliating World Cup exit for South Korea, set to return home... The national team has also departed Guadalajara [World Cup On-Site Issues]

*This content was translated by AI.

It was a humiliating exit. After the final group stage match, the South Korean national football team, which could only watch other countries' games, confirmed its elimination and finally left the site in Mexico.

The South Korean national football team departed from The Westin Guadalajara in Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico, on the morning of the 28th (local time), where they had stayed during the tournament.

The team, which received the shocking result of finishing 34th out of a record 48 nations, boarded a bus bound for the airport.

It is reported that local football fans gathered in the hotel lobby from early morning to capture the team's final moments. Local fans sent warm encouragement and cheers to the Taeguk Warriors who had experienced the pain of early elimination, seeing them off.

The expressions of the players boarding the bus were filled with a sense of futility. Key overseas players, including Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City), and Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), were visible. However, captain Son Heung-min (LAFC), who fought hard throughout the tournament but could not prevent the team's group stage elimination, was not captured by the cameras of the media crew as he left the hotel.

The main coaching staff, including head coach Hong Myung-bo, who announced his sudden resignation at a press conference held locally that day, will be the first to leave Guadalajara and head to Korea. The rest of the team members, who were not included in the main staff, plan to form small groups and complete their return to Korea sequentially as soon as flight seats are secured.

The Korea Football Association decided not to hold any separate media interviews or official events upon the team's return to the country to prevent congestion and safety accidents at the airport.

Earlier, head coach Hong Myung-bo held an official press conference at Chivas Verde Valle, the team's base camp, at 9:30 a.m., just before the team's departure, and announced his sudden resignation. In the press conference, which proceeded without separate question-and-answer sessions with the media, Coach Hong read a statement of apology: "I could not deliver the results that the people of Korea expected from this World Cup. The responsibility lies entirely with me, the coach."

Thus, the Hong Myung-bo second term, which began amid great concern and criticism, ended bitterly with a 34th-place finish. Although it was evaluated as having drawn the best possible draw in history by being grouped with Mexico, Czech Republic, and South Africa, the team missed its chance for direct qualification due to careless complacency after the victory against Czech Republic (2-1), leading to crushing defeats against Mexico (0-1) and South Africa (0-1). Even scenarios where their fate hung on the toe tips of players from other nations were completely ignored, leading to the tragedy of failing to advance from the group stage even under the 48th-nation system.

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*This content was translated by AI.