South Korea, quarter-finalists at the 2002 World Cup, won only one match at the World Cup, 2-1 over the Czech Republic, and after three days of waiting, their hopes of becoming one of the eight best third-placed teams to advance to the round of 16 disappeared.
Unpopular national team captain Hong Myung-Bo could face the sack if he does not resign voluntarily. He benched veteran star Son Heung-Min in the final group game against South Africa, a 1-0 loss.
"When loyalty and factionalism are valued more than competence, and incompetent people are put in senior leadership positions, the result is inevitable. I apologise profusely to our audience," Lee Jae-Myung writes on X, promising changes "so that something like this never happens again."
