South Korea's 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign will come to a quiet end, just as it began.
After departing for the tournament without an official send-off ceremony, Hong Myung-bo's squad will also return home without a public homecoming event following their group-stage elimination.
South Korea's hopes of reaching the Round of 32 officially ended on Saturday after the Democratic Republic of the Congo came from behind to defeat Uzbekistan 3-1 in the final Group K match. The result eliminated every remaining qualification scenario for Korea.
The Korean squad followed the decisive match together in real time. With kick-off taking place at 5:30 p.m. local time, players watched while eating dinner at the team hotel. As Congo scored the decisive goal, disappointment spread throughout the room, with several players visibly stunned after realizing their World Cup journey was over.
Competing in the expanded 48-team World Cup, South Korea failed to progress beyond the group stage and will now begin preparations to return home.
Hong Myung-bo is scheduled to hold a press conference at 12:30 a.m. KST on June 29 to reflect on the tournament and address the media. The squad will leave its team hotel later that day before beginning the journey back to Korea.
The entire delegation will not return on the same flight due to limited airline seat availability. Instead, players and staff will travel in several groups.
The first group, including Hong Myung-bo, goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, defenders Kim Min-jae and Seol Young-woo, midfielders Hwang In-beom and Paik Seung-ho, winger Hwang Hee-chan, full-back Kim Moon-hwan and playmaker Lee Kang-in, is scheduled to arrive at Incheon International Airport on the morning of June 30 (KST). The remaining members of the squad are expected to return by July 1.
No official welcoming ceremony has been planned.
The absence of a homecoming mirrors the team's departure before the tournament. The Korea Football Association decided not to hold a traditional send-off event, citing the need to minimize travel fatigue, help overseas-based players adjust to the time difference, and maximize preparation time at the pre-tournament training camp in the United States.
Altitude acclimatization was a central part of Hong's World Cup preparations. The head coach traveled to Salt Lake City in May with members of the preliminary squad before the full team assembled. Korea later based itself in Guadalajara, Mexico, located approximately 1,571 meters above sea level.
That preparation initially appeared to pay off when South Korea opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic on June 12. However, a narrow 1-0 defeat to hosts Mexico on June 19 was followed by another 1-0 loss to South Africa in Monterrey on June 25, a performance widely viewed as a significant regression.
South Korea finished third in the group with three points and a goal difference of -1. Although the expanded World Cup allowed eight of the twelve third-placed teams to advance to the Round of 32, Korea's record ultimately proved insufficient. Among all teams finishing on three points, only Senegal advanced, thanks to a superior goal difference of +2.
As a result, Hong Myung-bo's World Cup campaign will conclude without either the ceremonial farewell that traditionally marks a national team's departure or the public welcome that usually greets its return. It is a subdued ending to a tournament that promised much but ultimately ended in disappointment.
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