Hong says Korea can be 'consistently strong'; outlet says reality tells a different story

Son Heung-min watches from the bench during South Korea's Group A finale against South Africa at the 2026 North America World Cup on Wednesday (Korean Standard Time). [Reuters]
Son Heung-min watches from the bench during South Korea's Group A finale against South Africa at the 2026 North America World Cup on Wednesday (Korean Standard Time). [Reuters]

"Whether Son Heung-min plays or not, this South Korea side has yet to figure out what kind of team it even is."

Foreign media have kept up a sharp critique of South Korea after the team missed its chance to advance directly to the round of 16 at the 2026 North America World Cup. Korea fell 1-0 to South Africa in its Group A finale on Wednesday (Korean Standard Time), dropping to third place in the group.

A draw would have been enough to seal second place and a straightforward path to the knockout stage, but the unexpected defeat left Korea waiting on results from other groups.

US sports outlet The Athletic ran a piece Friday headlined "With or without Son Heung-min, South Korea has lost its identity," delivering a blunt assessment of the team's performance.

The outlet first took aim at the most contentious selection call of the match. Coach Hong Myung-bo chose to bench captain Son Heung-min and veteran Lee Jae-sung, instead deploying Hwang Hee-chan, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Lee Kang-in in the attacking line. Hong's reasoning was that introducing Son in the second half, when South Africa's legs would be tiring, would prove more effective.

The Athletic said the gambit "didn't work, and Son — introduced at the start of the second half — couldn't change the game's momentum." The outlet added that Son registered just 29 touches, the second fewest of any player in Korea's World Cup campaign, with most of them concentrated in central areas.

The deeper problem, the outlet argued, is that South Korea's style of play remains impossible to identify.

Earlier, Hong had told FIFA in an interview: "If the players build confidence and develop trust in one another, Korea can become a consistently strong team — not just one that occasionally pulls off an upset."

The Athletic pushed back on that vision. "But the reality is different," it said. "Korea has not advanced past the round of 16 at a World Cup since its semifinal run in 2002, and has lost to Sweden, Mexico and Ghana despite having the stronger squad."

The outlet went on to say that "in the match against South Africa, neither the attacking nor the defensive shape revealed what the manager is trying to do," adding that "that is precisely what Korean fans should be most worried about."


balme@heraldcorp.com