A humiliating World Cup exit for South Korea's football team; the squad is set to enter South Korea... the team has also departed from 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 squad 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 squad, which received the shocking result of finishing 34th out of 48 countries for the first time in history, boarded a bus heading to 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 Taegeuk 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 emptiness. 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 leaving 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 South Korea. The remaining squad members, who were not included in the main staff, plan to form small groups and complete their return to the country sequentially as soon as flight seats are secured.

The Football Association decided not to hold any separate media interviews or official events upon the team's return 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 squad's departure, announcing his sudden resignation. In a press conference conducted without separate question-and-answer sessions with the media, Coach Hong read a statement of apology: "I could not show the results that the people of Korea expected in this World Cup. The responsibility lies entirely with me, the coach."

Thus, the Hong Myung-bo second-term regime, which launched 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), suffering crushing defeats against Mexico (0-1) and South Africa (0-1). Even the scenarios where their fate hung on the toe tips of players from other nations were completely ignored, leading to the tragedy of failing to even pass the group stage in the 48th-country system.

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*This content was translated by AI.