'South Korea's Great Humiliation' Again Harshly Criticized by Major Overseas Outlets: "Son Heung-min Excluded from Starting Lineup, Worst Performance... Squandered the Easiest Group Draw"

*This content was translated by AI.

Although they were eliminated from the group stage long ago, foreign media's harsh criticism continues unabated. The South Korean national football team, which was eliminated powerlessly in the 2026 FIFA World Cup North America group stage, received a series of dismal evaluations.

Sports specialty outlet 'ESPN' analyzed the nations participating in this World Cup on the 12th (Korea time) and gave South Korea a final grade of D-.

Regarding South Korea's elimination process, the outlet stated, "Ahead of the final group stage match, South Korea had an opportunity to secure a trip to Los Angeles that was virtually equivalent to a home game in the Round of 32," and added, "The best scenario would have been facing Canada, whose strength was significantly weakened and without any home advantage, instead of strong championship contenders like France or Argentina in the Round of 32."

Even 'ESPN' pointed out, "All South Korea had to do was defeat South Africa, which was seen as one of the weakest teams in the tournament in the previous two matches."

However, Hong Myung-bo's team made a fatal error. The outlet strongly criticized, "But South Korea's coach (former coach Hong Myung-bo) humiliated the team by benching star player Son Heung-min (LAFC), excluding him from the starting lineup, and was completely outplayed by South Africa in terms of performance, losing 0-1 and packing his bags."

It further added, "The reason this grade is not the lowest F is that the performance was quite good during the victory against Czech Republic in the first match, and if it weren't for the best double save of the tournament (Cho Gue-sung header) in the Mexico match, a draw could have been recorded."

Initially, Hong Myung-bo's team received strong evaluations from numerous overseas outlets, including sports statistics specialist 'Opta', predicting they would easily pass the group stage. However, failing to maintain the momentum of their 2-1 victory against Czech Republic in the first match, they lost both matches against Mexico and South Africa 0-1, collapsing with one win and two losses.

Foreign media outlets have been pouring out harsh criticism following South Korea's unexpected elimination. Previously, 'The Athletic' also sharply pointed out that evaluating South Korea at a power ranking of 38th, four spots lower than their final ranking of 34th, was "a clear regression compared to the 2022 Qatar World Cup when they advanced to the tournament by defeating Uruguay and Ghana."

The final grades of the teams that faced each other in Group A of the group stage alongside South Korea were also revealed, showing a mix of joy and sorrow. Mexico, which defeated South Korea to advance to the tournament as Group A winners, received a B+. Regarding Mexico's elimination after losing to England in the Round of 16, the outlet analyzed, "After finishing the first four matches with scoreless victories, they displayed a lack of quality in their attack by recklessly launching countless crosses despite gaining a numerical advantage through an English player's red card in the Round of 16."

South Africa, which defeated South Korea in the final group stage match to achieve the nation's first-ever tournament advancement, received a B. The outlet praised, "Although classified as a bottom-tier candidate after their first match against Mexico, they completely dominated Czech Republic and South Korea with their unique sophisticated and systematic passing football," adding, "While they failed to overcome Canada in the tournament, they created an upset by advancing to the Round of 32 despite receiving the lowest strength evaluation among all participating nations."

On the other hand, Czech Republic, which South Korea was the only team to defeat, received the same worst grade of D-. 'ESPN' harshly criticized Czech Republic, stating, "Aside from set-piece situations, they showed almost nothing in attack," and added, "Most players are active in Europe's top leagues and should have easily advanced to the Round of 32, yet they managed only one point in Group A, which was considered one of the weakest groups in World Cup history, falling to last place and leaving a great sense of disappointment."

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*This content was translated by AI.