Hong Myung-bo, who led Ulsan HD FC to the past two K League 1 titles, was named the new head coach of the Korean men’s national football team on Sunday.The Korea Football Association (KFA) said its technical director Lee Lim-saeng will hold a press conference Monday to further discuss Hong’s appointment.Hong, 55, previously coached Korea from 2013 to 2014, a tenure that ended with a group stage exit at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
He is signed through the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which will run from Jan. 15 to Feb. 8 that year in Saudi Arabia. The KFA will have a midterm performance review after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.Hong is the first Korean national to take the top men’s national team job since Shin Tae-yong coached the country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The KFA has finally landed on the new men’s coach following a mostly frustrating search that had dragged on for nearly five months. The KFA fired Jurgen Klinsmann on Feb. 16 after Korea lost in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, and then cycled 추천 through two caretaker managers for four World Cup qualifying matches — two in March and two more in June.The KFA had initially set out to name a full-time replacement for Klinsmann by mid-May at the latest, but leading candidates either took another job or stayed put in their place of employment.
Lee, thrust into the leading role in the coaching search after Chung Hae-sung abruptly stepped down on June 28 as head of the National Teams Committee, had traveled to Europe on Tuesday to interview foreign candidates. The list included a pair of former Premier League coaches, David Wagner and Gus Poyet.After coming home, Lee met with Hong on Friday to make his pitch, and Hong accepted the offer Saturday evening, according to the KFA.