Park Moon-sung, co-chair of the Professional Football Growth Committee, delivers opening remarks at the committee's second plenary session at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Park Moon-sung, co-chair of the Professional Football Growth Committee, delivers opening remarks at the committee's second plenary session at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

Football commentator Park Moon-sung sharply criticized national team head coach Hong Myung-bo after South Korea failed to advance from the group stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Park called the result "absurd" given that the squad — featuring Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae — was arguably the best Korea had ever fielded, yet still failed to reach the round of 32 in a 48-team tournament.

Appearing on MBN on Sunday, Park said he felt "devastated" by the group-stage exit. "This squad was considered the best we've ever had, yet we've ended up with what is being called the worst World Cup result," he said. "How are we supposed to make sense of that gap?"

He also said he found it unsettling that Korea had to spend three days after its final group match waiting on results from other games to determine its fate. "It was a strange feeling — having to leave our destiny in the hands of other countries," he said.

South Korea beat the Czech Republic at the tournament but lost to both Mexico and South Africa.

"Looking at this World Cup on its own, I find it hard to say the performances were good," Park said. "We won the Czech Republic match, but things got progressively worse in the second and third games."

He added that the group draw had also been favorable for Korea.

"It's rare to end up in a group with Czech Republic, Mexico and South Africa all at once — it was a very kind draw," he said.

Park said the failure carried even greater weight given that the tournament had expanded to 48 teams.

"We didn't fail to reach the round of 16 — we failed to reach the round of 32," he said. "In the previous World Cup format, that would be equivalent to being eliminated in regional qualifying."

"And this is with Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae in the squad," he added. "It's an inexcusable result."

Park said the responsibility for the failure rested entirely with Hong.

"The players were exceptional, but we couldn't deliver," he said. "We had the finest ingredients, but the dish that came out was poor. Whose fault is that? The chef's. The cook failed to make the most of those ingredients."

He said Hong had approached all three matches the same way, without adapting his tactics to each opponent.

"All three teams were different — different strengths, different styles — yet we played them all the same way," Park said. "That's why we got the performances and results we did."

He said the failure was even harder to accept than the 2014 Brazil World Cup, given that the team had traveled to the United States two to three weeks in advance and received full support throughout its preparation.

"The 2014 loss to Algeria was devastating — that was a brutal match," Park said. "But South Africa is a far weaker team than Algeria. And we lost to them too."

Park also criticized the Korea Football Association's overall system.

"Japan, in the short view, has been building toward a 100-year plan since the 1990s," he said. "They have been preparing in stages — 50 years, 30 years, 20 years, 10 years, five years."

South Korea, by contrast, operates differently. "We don't do that," Park said. "We just keep patching things up one by one." He added that everything requires a well-built system and structure, and that it is ultimately people who build those systems.

He called for a sweeping personnel overhaul at the Korea Football Association.

"People need to change — and I mean people, plural," he said. "It's not just about replacing KFA President Chung Mong-gyu. If the people beneath him who ruined this World Cup stay on and keep running things, that's just a change of face, not a change in substance. Those people need to go."

South Korea national team head coach Hong Myung-bo bows to cameras after a resignation press conference at Chivas Valle Verde, the team's base camp near Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday (local time), following the team's group-stage elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [Yonhap]
South Korea national team head coach Hong Myung-bo bows to cameras after a resignation press conference at Chivas Valle Verde, the team's base camp near Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday (local time), following the team's group-stage elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [Yonhap]

Meanwhile, Hong held a press conference Monday (Korean Standard Time) at the team's base camp, Chivas Verde Valle in Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico, and announced his resignation.

"Taking on the role of national team head coach was never an easy decision," Hong said. "But from the moment I decided to take the job, I stopped thinking about any other reason — I believed that fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me to the very end was the only thing I had to do."

"I cannot say every decision I made was always right," he said, "but the standard behind every decision I made was always Korean football."

He added that the head coach position demands full accountability for results, without any need for explanation. "I was unable to deliver the results the public hoped for at this World Cup, and the responsibility for that lies entirely with me as the coach," he said.

"I am stepping down from the helm, but I am not stepping away from my commitment to Korean football," Hong said. "I sincerely hope our national team will grow into a side that once again earns the trust and love of the public."


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com