Korea Skips Welcome Ceremony as Hong Myung-bo's Squad Returns from World Cup

South Korea's national football team, whose 2026 World Cup ended with elimination in the group stage, returns home Tuesday. However, no official welcome ceremony or disbanding event will be held for the squad. It marks the first time since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup that the team has returned from an overseas World Cup without a homecoming event.

The Korea Football Association said Saturday that the main contingent led by head coach Hong Myung-bo will arrive at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday morning. The main group includes eight players: Hong, along with Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Paik Seung-ho (Birmingham), Kim Moon-hwan (Daejeon), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Seol Young-woo (Crvena Zvezda).

Some overseas-based players, including captain Son Heung-min (LAFC), will travel separately from the main group. They will return individually or join their clubs directly according to each player's schedule, and the association explained that the remaining players will also be split into several groups and all return home by July 1.

The reason the team could not return all at once was airline availability. After completing their final group-stage match, the team had to wait for results from other groups, and when their elimination from the round of 32 was confirmed, they could not secure seats on the same flight, leaving the squad to return on multiple flights.

What draws the most attention is the complete cancellation of the homecoming events. The Korea Football Association decided not to hold a separate airport event or disbanding ceremony. Even when the team posted disappointing results at overseas World Cups, it had continued to hold homecoming events, but this time all of them were omitted.

The decision also contrasts with the situation at the Brazil World Cup 12 years ago. At the time, the team led by Hong Myung-bo was eliminated in the group stage with one draw and two losses, and at the homecoming event, some fans disappointed with the results threw yeot (a traditional Korean taffy) at the coach and players.

Public opinion toward the team is also cold this time. Korea finished third in Group A with one win and two losses (three points), and subsequently failed to make the top eight teams in the wild-card competition among the third-place teams of each group, missing out on advancing to the round of 32. With only one of nine possible scenarios met, the team's early elimination was ultimately confirmed.

In particular, the number of participating countries in this tournament was expanded from the previous 32 to 48, with more than half — 32 countries — advancing to the knockout stage. Even so, Korea finished 34th in the final standings, falling far short of expectations. Some assessments say that, converted to the 32-country format, it is a result tantamount to failing even to qualify for the finals.

In the end, Hong Myung-bo held a press conference Monday at the Chivas Verde Valle training ground in Zapopan, Mexico, and personally announced his resignation. "I sincerely apologize to the people who love football and supported the national team," he said. "I am stepping down today from the national team head coach position."

Although the official events have disappeared, a considerable number of fans are expected to gather at the site of the team's return. Attention is also focused on whether angry public sentiment will be expressed again, as it was when the team returned from the 2014 Brazil World Cup.