Hong Myung-bo's side was eliminated in the group stage of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, failing to reach the round of 32.
The Korea national soccer team led by coach Hong Myung-bo, after completing all Group K matches on the 28th (Korea time), was pushed outside eighth place—the cutoff for round-of-32 qualification—in the ranking battle among third-place teams and was confirmed eliminated.
It is the first time in eight years since the 2018 Russia World Cup that Korea soccer has failed to pass the World Cup group stage.
The team reached the round of 16 at the 2010 South Africa World Cup and the 2022 Qatar World Cup and was aiming for its third overall and second straight advancement to the knockout stage on foreign soil, but fell short.
Korea has suffered group-stage elimination at the World Cup in 1954 Switzerland, 1986 Mexico, 1990 Italy, 1994 United States, 1998 France, 2006 Germany, 2014 Brazil, 2018 Russia, and now for the ninth time.
Depending on the remaining Group J results, Korea will finish the tournament in 33rd or 34th place.
This North and Central America World Cup is the first tournament in which the number of participating nations expanded from 32 to 48. Even so, Korea failed to get out of the group stage and effectively received a disappointing report card tantamount to missing the finals under the previous 32-team format.