Hong Myung-bo steps down as South Korea boss after World Cup exit

[p]Hong ‌made the announcement at the team's training camp in ‌Guadalajara after results on Saturday meant [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-korea/K6Gs7P6G/"]South Korea[/a] would not advance to the last ‌32 as one of the eight third-placed ‌finishers in the group phase.[/p][p]"[b]I would like to sincerely apologise to the citizens who have loved ‌Korean football and always supported the ⁠national team[/b]," Hong ‌said.[/p][p]"[b]Today, I wish to step down as head ​coach of the South Korean national football team. Accepting this role was ​never an easy decision for me[/b].[/p][p]"[b]However, once I made that decision, I did not consider ⁠any other ​reasons. I believed my only task was to fulfil the responsibility entrusted to me to the end[/b]."[/p][embed guid="facfe29d-4232-4a17-8db5-3f94c7c9009a" url="https://x.com/WorldCup26HQ/status/2071259421783589239" social-type="twitter" /][p]Hong was appointed in July 2024 as ‌the long-term replacement for Jurgen Klinsmann and steered the country to an 11th successive World Cup appearance.[/p][p]Expectations were high that a Korean squad featuring [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/son-heung-min/Mgg9oPeM/"]Son Heung-min[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lee-kangin/YTVIJfxO/"]Lee Kang-in[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-min-jae/vkXC6mad/"]Kim Min-jae[/a] would advance to the knockout rounds from a group featuring co-hosts [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a], the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Czech Republic[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]South Africa[/a].[/p][p]The Koreans ‌started with a 2-1 win over the Czechs ​but losses to Mexico and South ‌Africa left them needing results in other groups to go their way to progress to the next phase of the competition.[/p][p]"[b]I failed to deliver the results the ⁠public expected[/b]," said ⁠Hong. "[b]The responsibility lies ‌entirely with me[/b]."[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]