SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Korean football coach Hong Myung-bo resigned on Sunday after the country's earliest-ever World Cup exit, becoming the first coach in national team history to leave following failures at two separate tournaments.
Hong stepped down a day after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage of the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup, ending the country's run of five consecutive appearances in the knockout stage dating back to 2018 and consigning it to its lowest-ever World Cup finish.
The 57-year-old announced his resignation at the team's training base in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico.
"A head coach cannot put any explanation ahead of results," Hong told reporters. "I came here today to speak about responsibility, not explanations."
"I failed to deliver the result the public expected. The responsibility lies with me."
South Korea finished third in Group A after beating Czechia 2-1 before suffering consecutive 1-0 defeats to co-host Mexico and South Africa. The team needed other results to fall its way to claim one of eight wildcard places reserved for the best third-place finishers, but ultimately ranked 10th among the 12 third-placed teams.
The campaign ended with South Korea placed 34th overall in the tournament's first 48-team edition — the worst finish in the country's World Cup history. Under the previous 32-team format, such a result would have meant failing even to qualify for the knockout stage.
He had been under contract through the 2027 Asian Cup. Sunday's resignation came roughly six months early.
"I asked myself the same question for the past two years, is this choice good for Korean football," Hong said of his approach to the job. "Not every decision I made was right, but Korean football was always my standard."
That mixed record showed on the field. Hong's side went unbeaten through the final round of World Cup qualifying, winning six and drawing four. But pre-tournament friendlies told a different story: a 5-0 loss to Brazil, a 4-0 loss to Ivory Coast. The pressure on Hong was building even before the team reached Mexico.
Hong previously took South Korea to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the team went out with one draw and two losses. No other coach has led South Korea into two World Cups, a distinction that now bookends two tournaments in which he failed to get out of the group stage.
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