Elimination from Round of 32 After Failing Scenarios, Scotland Coach Resigns Voluntarily... What About South Korea?

Led Scotland to First World Cup Finals in 28 Years
Eliminated After Finishing Third in Group C Due to Tiebreaker Scenarios

Steve Clarke, head coach of the Scotland national football team, has stepped down after failing to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America.

On June 28 (local time), the Scottish Football Association announced through its official channels, "Coach Clarke will step down as the head coach of the Scotland men's national football team," adding, "As the most successful manager in Scotland's history, Clarke has decided to end his seven-year tenure following Scotland's elimination from the North and Central America World Cup."

Steve Clarke, head coach of the Scotland national football team. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News Agency

Previously, Coach Clarke had led Scotland to two consecutive UEFA European Championship finals and guided the team to its first World Cup finals in 28 years. Backed by overwhelming support from fans, he even signed a four-year contract extension with the Scottish Football Association last month, just before the opening of the World Cup finals.

However, in this World Cup, Scotland was placed in Group C along with strong teams Brazil and Morocco. Scotland appeared to be on track after defeating Haiti 1-0, but then suffered consecutive losses to Morocco and Brazil, finishing third in the group. Like the South Korean team, Scotland had to rely on the results of matches in other groups to determine their advancement to the round of 32. After all group stage matches concluded, it was confirmed that Scotland, with a record of one win and two losses (3 points) and a goal difference of -3, failed to secure one of the eight available spots for the best third-placed teams among the 12 groups, as Croatia defeated Ghana earlier that day.

Coach Clarke commented, "The most emotional aspect of this farewell is saying goodbye to the players. Without them, none of the memories we've built together since 2019 would have existed." He continued, "The players fully deserve all the praise and love they receive, and it has been a true honor for me to be called their manager. Thank you for believing in me, and I wish the best of luck to my successor."

Hong Myung-bo, Head Coach of the South Korea National Football Team. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Meanwhile, on June 25, South Korea lost 0-1 to South Africa in their final Group A match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage. South Korea could have secured second place in the group and advanced to the round of 32 on their own with just a draw, but with the defeat, they ended up with one win, two losses, three points, and a goal difference of -1, dropping to third place in Group A. As a result, South Korea was left in a position to calculate the possible scenarios and support other teams according to the outcomes on the final day of the group stage.

With several possible scenarios remaining, some statistics websites projected South Korea's chances of advancing to the round of 32 to be as high as 96%, keeping hope alive. However, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo securing a victory in the final match that day, the number of third-placed teams with better records than South Korea increased to eight, and South Korea's elimination from the round of 32 was confirmed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.