South Korea was tied 1-1 by Jordan Hong Myung-bo: We failed to meet the fans' expectations

In the focus match of the 8th round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers Group B, the "Taegeuk Tigers" South Korea lost the ball in the first half after Lee Jae-sung scored, and was eventually tied 1-1 by Jordan. South Korean coach Hong Myung-bo said he was very sorry that the team failed to meet the fans' expectations.

Five minutes into the game, Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min assisted Lee Jae-sung to score from a corner kick, giving South Korea a 1-0 lead.

In the 30th minute, South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo tried hard to clear the opponent's shot, but Mardi got the ball and volleyed it into the goal, helping Jordan to equalize the score at 1-1.

South Korea still failed to score again in the following time, and was eventually tied with Jordan at home with a score of 1 to 1. After three consecutive draws, South Korea currently ranks first in the Group B standings with 16 points, 3 points ahead of Jordan, which is in second place. This also means that South Korea must get all 3 points in the next round against Iraq to advance to the World Cup finals in advance.

South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said in an interview, "I take full responsibility and I want to apologize to the fans for this result. The players have implemented the training content very well in a short period of time. Although it is disappointing not to win, they have tried their best. I am sorry that we failed to meet the expectations of the fans. From the overall tactical point of view, I did not see any obvious mistakes by the players."

"Compared to the last game, our performance has improved. We created some chances on the wing and successfully used the gaps. But in the end, we failed to seize the chances. As the head coach, this is all my responsibility. However, I also saw a lot of positive aspects from the players' performance."

When talking about the performance of other players, Hong Myung-bo said, "Although Park Yong-woo made a mistake, his performance cannot be judged based on this mistake alone. We only had a few days to train, and from the perspective of overall balance and team tacit understanding, I think Park Yong-woo and Hwang In-beom are the most suitable midfield partners at the moment."

"From a long-term perspective, it is of course important to discover new players, but for now, I don't think the team has any big problems in terms of the squad."