Korea eliminated from World Cup group stage
Korea's Lee Kang-in looks dejected after his team lost the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between Korea and South Africa at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico, Wednesday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Korea have been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, unable to sneak into the knockout stage on the heels of group stage woes.
With the tournament having expanded from 32 to 48 nations, the eight best third-place teams get to play in the knockout stage, along with the top two countries from each of 12 groups.
After finishing third in Group A with three points on a win and two losses, Korea failed to crack the top eight among the dozen third-place teams Saturday.
Following the conclusion of group stage action Saturday, Korea finished in 10th place in the ranking of third-place teams.
Seven teams advanced with four points each, and Senegal grabbed the eighth spot with three points thanks to their goal difference of +2. Iran ended in ninth with three points and a zero goal difference, and Korea had a goal difference of -1.
Korea opened the tournament by beating the Czech Republic 2-1 on June 11 but lost to Mexico 1-0 a week later.
Korea still had a chance to finish second in Group A, behind Mexico, with a win or a draw against South Africa on Wednesday but lost that game 1-0.
The result left Korea at the mercy of other teams and they ended up not getting the help they needed to stay alive in the competition.
At the start of Saturday, Korea were clinging to the eighth and final spot among third-place teams, sandwiched by two nations that each had one match remaining.
Croatia were ahead of them in seventh with three points in Group L thanks to their tiebreak edge in goals scored, while Algeria were in ninth with three points in Group J, trailing Korea in goal difference. The Democratic Republic of the Congo also remained in the mix, as they were to face winless Uzbekistan in Group K for a chance to reach four points.
In the day's first match with implications for Korea, Croatia defeated Ghana 2-1 when a Ghana victory would have helped the Taegeuk Warriors.
Then Korea's fate was sealed when DR Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1.
It pushed Korea out of the top eight, as DR Congo jumped to No. 1 with four points and punched their first-ever knockout ticket.
This was Korea's 12th World Cup appearance and they reached the knockout stage on three previous occasions — going to the semifinals as a co-host in 2002 and making it to the round of 16 in 2010 in South Africa and in 2022 in Qatar.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced head coach Hong Myung-bo and eight players will return home early Tuesday, with the remainder of the squad set to arrive back by Wednesday.
The KFA said there will be no official welcome ceremony for the team at Incheon International Airport — the first time in six away World Cups since 2002 that the KFA will not hold any event for the returning national team.
Players based in Europe will enter their offseason, while those playing in Korea and, in the case of captain Son Heung-min, in the United States will rejoin their respective clubs to continue their season.