The exit from the World Cup 2026 has left South Korean football in crisis

Failure in Group A brought fans’ anger to boiling point.

It started with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic but then a team featuring Son Heung-min, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in and Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae lost 1-0 to Mexico. Taeguk Warriors needed a point against South Africa to secure second.

Hong, who also led the team to a group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup, left captain and talismanic son on the bench and the team slumped to defeat, which former Tottenham Hotspur defender Lee Yong-po described on television as “the worst match of a Korean football team” in the 21st century.

After the game, a reporter asked Hong if there had been an outbreak of food poisoning or something similar in the camp, as there could be no explanation for such a performance. To make matters worse, South Korea had to wait more than three days in their training camp to decide whether they would enter the last 32 as one of the best third-place finishers or go home.

The camp was not a particularly happy place as in early June, media personnel were heard on camera mocking Son’s military record. The former Tottenham star won an exemption from the country’s 21-month mandatory military service after being part of the team that won gold at the 2018 Asian Games. In return, the players boycotted the domestic media for several days.

Son turns 34 in July and it won’t be a surprise if he takes time off from his international career soon. There will be no public return to South Korea as a planned welcome ceremony at Incheon International Airport has been cancelled. The captains and players, however, have largely escaped public ire by focusing on how the game is conducted in the country.