South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo holds a resignation press conference at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Saturday (local time). [Yonhap]
South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo holds a resignation press conference at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Saturday (local time). [Yonhap]

South Korea's failure to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has put a spotlight on head coach Hong Myung-bo's rigid insistence on a three-back formation and what critics have dubbed "haejwo football" — a style of play that relies on individual players rather than structured tactics.

The North America World Cup's round of 32 knockout stage kicked off Sunday (Korean Standard Time), but South Korea, placed in Group A, finished third with one win and two losses and failed to advance. While the top eight third-place finishers across all groups were eligible for the round of 32, South Korea ranked 10th among those third-place sides.

When the group-stage draw was announced, most observers expected South Korea to advance comfortably. Compared to their group rivals — Mexico, Czech Republic and South Africa — South Korea boasted a strong roster of players active in Europe's top leagues, including Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain). The presence of Son Heung-min (LAFC), a former Premier League top scorer, added significantly to the squad's firepower.

Analysts point to Hong's inflexible tactical approach — his unwavering commitment to a three-back system — as a key factor in the early exit. In both the second group match against Mexico and the final group game against South Africa, South Korea conceded the opening goal in the second half. Despite urgently needing to score, Hong refused to abandon the three-back setup.

Particularly in the match against South Africa, a draw would have been enough to secure a round-of-32 berth. Yet Hong opted to prioritize avoiding further concessions over pushing for an equalizer — apparently calculating that a narrow defeat might still leave South Korea among the top eight third-place finishers. That gamble proved fatal.

Criticism of so-called "haejwo football" has also grown louder. The term, a sardonic coinage, describes a strategy that depends on a specific player rather than any coherent tactical system. Hong had drawn widespread criticism even before the World Cup for relying on individual improvisation instead of giving players detailed tactical instructions.

The tendency was most glaring against South Africa. As South Africa performed better than expected, South Korea offered no clear tactical response and leaned excessively on Lee Kang-in's passing game. South Africa quickly recognized that neutralizing Lee would stall the entire Korean attack and focused their pressing efforts on him accordingly.

By contrast, Paulo Bento, who led South Korea at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, built attacks from the back and pursued a possession-based, proactive style regardless of the opponent. The result was a round-of-16 finish with one win, one draw and one loss — a performance widely praised given that South Korea's group included Uruguay, Ghana and Portugal.

Since Bento's contract expired, however, his successors — Jurgen Klinsmann and then Hong — have both been criticized for perpetuating the same tactically hollow "haejwo football," leaving South Korean football widely seen as having regressed.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com