Following the nation’s group stage exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Hong stepped down after taking “full responsibility” for the Taegeuk Warriors failing to reach the knockout rounds of the World Cup in Mexico, despite finishing third in Group A with a 1-2 record.
South Korea did not advance as the top four ranked third-place teams because of results elsewhere, having ended behind Mexico and South Africa.
South Korea, the 32nd-ranked team according to the FIFA Rankings, which had the 2022-23 Golden Boot winner among their squad, was ousted when it fell 1-0 to the third-ranked team in Group A with a defeat against the latter that confirmed the team’s demise.
I did not achieve the results that our supporters wanted,” Hong said during a press conference held at The JW Marriott Hotel in Mexico. “It’s fully on my shoulders as the head coach.” The decision to step down came amid an outpouring of criticism by supporters and government officials following South Korea’s poor performances.
President Lee Jae Myung referred to the campaign as a “failure of organisation and personnel,” and demanded a full inquiry into why the squad performed so badly.
His appointment as head coach in 2024 had come under fire when KFA controversially ignored foreign manager options.
But after having previously coached the squad in 2014, he had also failed to get his country past the Group stages. Hong led Korea as a player to the World Cup 2002’s historic semi-final, captaining the nation in the 2014 global event in Brazil. “I won’t change as a person or my beliefs.
I will stand by the national team,” he added.
