"Korean soccer is completely behind Japan"... BBC's painful diagnosis: "The World Cup disaster must be a turning point"

*This content was translated by AI.

Even the British BBC delivered a cold diagnosis that Korean soccer has fallen behind its "eternal rival" Japan.

On the 30th (Korean time), the British BBC stated, "Korean soccer is in crisis," pointing to South Korea's poor performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North, Central America, and the Caribbean. The outlet noted, "Japan has run ahead of Korea. During the tenure of President Jeong Mong-gyu, South Korea, Asia's top team that qualified for the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive years, has clearly fallen behind Japan."

South Korea delivered a disappointing result at the CONCACAF World Cup. In this tournament, South Korea was drawn into Group A alongside Mexico, Czechia, and South Africa. Although many assessed it as a relatively easy group, the result was one win and two losses (three points), finishing third in Group A. The start was good. South Korea secured a 2-1 comeback victory against Czechia in the group stage's first match. However, they lost 0-1 to Mexico in the second match and collapsed 0-1 against South Africa in the final match.

Especially, the loss against South Africa was fatal. South Korea could have advanced to the Round of 32 as the second-place team in Group A had they drawn with South Africa. However, they failed to produce even the minimum result and missed the opportunity to qualify for the Round of 32 on their own merit.

Regarding the loss against South Africa, the BBC reported that Manchester United star Park Ji-sung said, "It is miserable that we have reached the point where we must reflect on why we got this far." The outlet also introduced that former Tottenham defender Lee Young-pyo described this match as "the worst match of the 21st-century South Korean national team."

Furthermore, the BBC mentioned that President Lee Jae-myung strongly criticized the poor performance of Korean soccer, stating, "As the former honorary president of the professional soccer league and a spiritual Red Devil, I feel not just surprised but bewildered by the unexpected result."

The outlet further explained, "A Korean journalist asked Coach Hong Myeong-bo (CEO) of the South Korean team after the match against South Africa whether the squad had suffered from food poisoning or a similar issue. This implied there was no other way to explain such a performance."

In this tournament, not only the top two teams in each group but also the eight best-performing third-place teams among the 12 third-place teams advanced to the Round of 32. However, South Korea finished only 10th in the third-place rankings. Ultimately, out of 48 teams, South Korea finished 34th overall, ending its World Cup journey sadly.

This was the second World Cup failure for Coach Hong Myung-bo. He previously led the South Korean national team at the 2014 Brazil World Cup but was eliminated in the group stage with one draw and two losses. Even in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, where he took charge of the national team again after more than a decade, he could not avoid the same outcome.

Ultimately, Coach Hong Myung-bo held a press conference on the 29th and announced his voluntary resignation. Although Coach Hong's contract was set to last until the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, held in January next year, he stepped down before completing his contract term.

The BBC pointed out, "The anger of Korean soccer fans has even led to reports of death threats against Coach Hong Myung-bo. The location where the squad and coaching staff returned to Korea was kept confidential. However, this reaction is not solely due to the disappointing two weeks spent in Mexico. This problem has been accumulating for some time."

Japan also received a disappointing result sheet of elimination in the Round of 32 at the CONCACAF World Cup. However, the process was not as bad. Under the guidance of Coach Hajime Moriyasu, Japan achieved an overwhelming record of 17 wins, six draws, and two losses from the Asian third qualifying round through the CONCACAF World Cup group stage. During this period, they also defeated world-class powerhouses such as England and Brazil in A-matches. In this tournament's Round of 32, they played an even match against Brazil and sadly lost 1-2.

The BBC compared last year's 0-5 heavy defeat of South Korea against Brazil with Japan's 3-2 victory over Brazil in a friendly match. The outlet also introduced Japan's achievement of defeating England for the first time among Asian teams. It further stated, "J-League clubs are now consistently ahead of their K-League rivals in Asian tournaments. Moreover, they are sending more talent to Europe. The Japanese national team is now composed entirely of players from European clubs."

The BBC emphasized that South Korea must develop by using Japan as a benchmark. The outlet stated, "Following the model of the bitter rival Japan may be painful for South Korea," but added, "However, South Korea has no, and the president of the soccer association is also stepping down. Furthermore, in the current climate filled with anger and a desire for change, there may be no better time for the Asian powerhouse South Korea, which has fallen into failure, to make the pain of the 2026 World Cup a turning point."

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*This content was translated by AI.