[2026 World Cup] Minister Choi Hwi-young: "Korean Football Must Start Over from the Ground Up... Fundamental Solutions Needed"

Choi Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has stated that he will develop fundamental countermeasures to address the reasons behind South Korea’s failure to advance to the Round of 32 knockout stage at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.

On June 28, the day South Korea's group-stage elimination was confirmed, Minister Choi posted on social media, "Korean football has fallen into a quagmire; now is the time to collect ourselves and start again from the ground up." He emphasized, "We need to review when things started to go wrong, identify the root causes that have been holding us back, organize the countless discussions we have had so far, and develop fundamental solutions."

Minister Choi expressed his disappointment regarding the outcome of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, stating, "I watched while holding my breath, but the result was elimination in the group stage. It is very regrettable."

He added, "Until the day when the hearts of the people come together again, the government will do everything in its power to support Korean football. Though we have fallen, we will surely rise again."

On this day, as the group stage of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup concluded, it was confirmed that the team led by Hong Myung-bo had been eliminated from the Round of 32. In this tournament, 8 out of the 12 third-placed teams join the Round of 32, but South Korea finished 10th among the third-placed teams and thus failed to advance.

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