Park Ji-sung, a JTBC football commentator, leveled harsh criticism at Korean football after the national team led by head coach Hong Myung-bo failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
After the Democratic Republic of the Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in the final Group K match at Atlanta Stadium in Georgia, the United States, on June 28 — confirming Korea's elimination — Park said, "Perhaps we anticipated this result years ago." He added, "This moment, when we have to look back at why this situation came about, is miserable."
That day, the Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 in their third Group K match at Atlanta Stadium in the 2026 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup in North America.
The match was directly tied to whether Korea would advance to the round of 32. At the time, Korea sat third in Group A (3 points, goal difference -1) and needed to finish among the top eight of the 12 third-place teams to reach the round of 32.
For Korea to hold onto the cutoff for advancement, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had to avoid beating Uzbekistan. Before the match, the Democratic Republic of the Congo stood third in Group K with one draw and one loss (1 point), while Uzbekistan was fourth in Group K with two losses (0 points).
Had the Democratic Republic of the Congo failed to win, or had Uzbekistan won by a margin of five goals or fewer, Korea could have edged out one of the two teams to hold eighth place among the third-place finishers. But the Democratic Republic of the Congo added three points, pushing Korea outside the top eight in the third-place race and sealing its elimination from the round of 32.
Hong Myung-bo, who took the reins of the national team after much controversy, fell short of expectations in his second World Cup challenge, following the 2014 Brazil World Cup, where the team was eliminated in the group stage. Criticism over Hong's leadership has continued among the football community and fans.
"Even after 10 years of learning how we should prepare for the World Cup and develop Korean football, we forgot it all again," Park lamented. "It's regrettable that this keeps happening repeatedly." He continued, "To avoid repeating this kind of failure, we must dream of and envision the future, moving forward slowly, one step at a time."
Commentator Kim Hwan also offered a sharp rebuke, saying, "In the end, Korea was a team that did not deserve to reach the round of 32." He added, "Even though we had two matches to advance on our own, we failed to reach the tournament."
He went on, "Korean football right now is not at zero but in negative territory." He stressed, "We have to overhaul it so we don't repeat our mistakes."
