No round-advancement bonuses after failing to reach round of 32

Base pay of 50 million won plus 30 million won match-win bonus

South Korea players and head coach Hong Myung-bo celebrate after their 2-1 comeback victory over Czech Republic in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Guadalajara, on June 12. [Yonhap]
South Korea players and head coach Hong Myung-bo celebrate after their 2-1 comeback victory over Czech Republic in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Guadalajara, on June 12. [Yonhap]

Each player on South Korea's World Cup squad will receive 80 million won ($51,800) for their participation in this year's tournament, with no performance bonuses paid after the team's group-stage elimination.

Under head coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea finished third in their group at the 2026 FIFA North America World Cup — which opened June 12 and runs through July 19 — posting one win and two losses for three points. The team failed to secure one of the eight third-place berths that advance to the round of 32 and flew home early.

The total bonus pool for the 26-man squad comes to 2.08 billion won. Under the Korea Football Association's bonus structure, all 26 players on the final roster receive a base allowance of 50 million won each.

A match-win bonus of 30 million won is added on top of that. South Korea earned the win bonus with their victory over Czech Republic, but the absence of any draws means no draw bonus of 10 million won was added.

Far larger round-advancement bonuses will go uncollected after the team failed to reach the round of 32. The KFA had set per-player bonuses of 100 million won for reaching the round of 32, 200 million won for the round of 16 and 300 million won for the quarterfinals.

In addition, a separate bonus pledged by KFA President Chung Mong-gyu as a personal contribution will also go unpaid. Chung had promised 1 billion won if the team reached the round of 32, 2 billion won for the round of 16 and 3 billion won for the quarterfinals.

As a result, captain Son Heung-min (LAFC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and their teammates will each take home 80 million won — the 50 million won base allowance combined with the 30 million won win bonus. The payment is expected to be distributed equally among all 26 players regardless of playing time or appearances.

Meanwhile, players on the 2022 Qatar World Cup squad under Paulo Bento — which reached the round of 16 for only the second time in South Korea's history at an away World Cup — received a maximum of 340 million won per player.


yjc@heraldcorp.com