'The Greatest Mystery of Hong Myung-bo's Team': Lee Kang-in Also Fumed at This Moment During the Match... What Exactly Happened? [World Cup Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

At the moment when a goal was most needed and game control was urgently required, the indispensable resource of the South Korean national football team ultimately failed to step onto the field. This is the reason Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) erupted in anger during the match.

The South Korean national football team, led by former coach Hong Myung-bo, lost 0-1 to South Africa in the final Group A match of the 2026 FIFA CONCACAF World Cup group stage, held on the 25th of last month (Korea time) at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico.

As a result of that day's outcome, South Korea recorded one win and two losses, finishing third in the group. This forced the team to rely on tiebreaker scenarios, ultimately leading to the humiliation of being eliminated from the Round of 32.

With South Korea's early elimination confirmed, the background of Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), who was listed on the substitution bench but ultimately ignored, remained one of the biggest questions of this tournament.

Lee Jae-sung is an irreplaceable core of the South Korean national team. Beyond his characteristic high work rate and experienced game management skills, he displays unparalleled ability as a linker distributing the ball from midfield to the attack line. In defensive situations, he has consistently performed a key tactical role on both ends of the field by agilely blocking opponents' advances or quickly increasing the number of defenders.

With this irreplaceable commander absent, Hong Myung-bo's midfield exposed serious cracks against South Africa. Throughout the match, the team floundered under the opponent's consecutive counterattacks, losing the initiative, and ultimately collapsed after conceding a crucial first goal to Tafelo Maseko in the 18th minute of the second half.

After conceding the goal, a situation arose where a goal was absolutely necessary. Coach Hong Myung-bo attempted a tactical change by bringing on Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland), but due to a monotonous attacking pattern structure focused on long balls, they failed to penetrate South Africa's defensive wall at all. Instead, they even resorted to an inexplicable substitution card, removing Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who had suffered an injury late in the second half, and bringing on Park Jin-seop (Zhejiang FC), thereby inviting the worst possible outcome.

The decision not to bring on Lee Jae-sung, even in such an intractable situation, appeared as a huge mystery. If there were extenuating circumstances such as an injury, it would be understandable; however, the players' physical condition confirmed throughout the tournament by the national team's medical staff and related officials does not explain Lee Jae-sung's absence.

During the entire Mexico trip, the only players who became the subject of injury discussions while observing training on-site were Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City) and Kim Tae-hyun (Kashima Antlers). Bae Jun-ho twisted his ankle in a friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago just before the World Cup, and Kim Tae-hyun suffered an ankle injury during a rondos session in training the day before the group stage's first match against the Czech Republic. According to national team officials, both players had recovered to a state where they could participate in the match, but there was concern that a recurrence could completely ruin their remaining World Cup schedule.

However, Lee Jae-sung was different. He was not injured throughout the tournament, So Sik-i (EVP), and national team officials consistently confirmed the overall good physical condition of the squad by stating "there are no special injuries" at every training session. This meant that a key midfielder with no physical issues was thoroughly excluded from the most crucial single-match showdown.

The frustration on the field also erupted within the squad. According to video footage from the match that spread recently via social networking services (SNS), Lee Kang-in was clearly captured urgently urging the coaching staff to bring on Lee Jae-sung as soon as possible with an anxious expression. Even a player on the ground recognized the necessity of Lee Jae-sung and signaled to the bench, but the coach's decision ultimately did not include him.

Ultimately, the price of the blunder of holding the most certain tactical card but failing to use it was tragic. Having lost to South Africa 0-1, South Korea threw away its own chance to advance to the Round of 32 on its own merits. On the final day of the group stage, all possible scenarios from matches in other countries were also shattered, leading to the unprecedented humiliation of finishing 34th out of 48 nations for the first time in history.

At the moment when the fate of the group stage hung in the balance, a tactical error should have been diagnosed, but the neglect by Coach Hong Myung-bo, who failed to utilize even his existing core cards, and the mystery surrounding the abandonment of Lee Jae-sung became the decisive fuse for the most shameful disaster in Korean football history.

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*This content was translated by AI.