The South Korea national team will return home in a gloomy atmosphere after an early exit at the 2026 World Cup.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) confirmed that it will not organize any official welcoming ceremony for the national team upon landing at Incheon Airport, marking the first time this has happened since the 2002 World Cup. According to the plan, coach Hong Myung-bo and a number of players will leave Guadalajara (Mexico), transit in the US before returning to South Korea on June 30.
KFA stated that it will not organize airport welcoming activities as per custom. Players currently playing for foreign clubs will return to their parent teams or travel to the countries where they are playing, while the association continues to arrange the schedule for the remaining members of the team.
This is the first time in more than two decades that the South Korea national team returns without an official welcoming ceremony. Even after being eliminated from the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, KFA still organized a meeting with fans. However, at that time, coach Hong Myung-bo and his students had to endure fierce opposition from supporters. Many people threw “yeot” candy, a traditional Korean candy that is often seen as a symbol of mockery or criticism, towards the coaching staff.
By the 2018 World Cup, when the South Korean team also stopped right from the group stage, the players and coaching staff continued to be pelted with eggs by fans upon returning home.
At the 2026 World Cup, South Korea only ranked 34th out of 48 participating teams and failed to qualify for the knockout round.
