The process to appoint the next national soccer team coach is accelerating. Eleven “final candidates” were selected. There are four domestic leaders and seven foreigners. The Korea Football Association officially announced its plan to finalize the appointment by May.
Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the Korea Football Association’s national team’s power enhancement committee, held a briefing at the Seoul Shinmun-ro Football Center after holding the fifth meeting on Tuesday. “We could have shared what was going on up to today in a press release, but a considerable amount of time has passed so far. There were few opportunities to share the news given the huge interest,” he said in person explaining the process.
The Korean national soccer team failed to become the top in Asia for the first time in 64 years at the Qatar Asian Cup. All conflicts have now disappeared, but there has also been a clash between “captain” Son Heung-min (32) and Young Gun Lee Kang-in (23) of Paris Saint-Germain. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked in February, and a new power enhancement committee was formed under the leadership of Chairman Chung Hae-sung. In the third to fourth rounds of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Thailand, Hwang Seon-hong, head coach of the Olympic team, was appointed as the interim coach.
The next A match period will be in June. The fifth round of the second qualifying round against Singapore (on June 6) and the final round against China (on June 11) are waiting. “We have continued our efforts to officially appoint a coach. There were about 20 candidates on the list. Since then, there have been discussions on a total of 32 candidates through subcommittee review as additional candidates have been recommended,” Chung said. “A total of 11 out of 32 candidates were selected through the fifth round of meetings that lasted for three hours today. There are four in Korea and seven in foreign countries.” “First of all, we plan to immediately seek interviews with foreign leaders. Interviews with foreign leaders will be held non-face-to-face. We are collecting and analyzing videos of the matches in question. The Korean leader will be conducted after the foreign leader is finished. We will make sure that a coach can be appointed by early or mid-May at the earliest,” he added.
There are negative views on returning to the position of a foreign coach due to Klinsmann’s failure. The Korean leader is interested in him. The four Korean leaders have not been disclosed yet. Still, they include Ulsan HD coach Hong Myung-bo who won the K-League 1 title for two consecutive years, and Hwang Seon-hong who successfully led the match against Thailand following the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Chung also admitted that the K-League coach and the K-League’s full-time soccer association leader are included.
Regarding concerns about “taking out K-League coaches,” he said, “There is a risk to express it as okay. Apart from that, if you think about it when I play a role as a coach for the national team, being a national team is for Korean soccer. It is a very honorable occasion,” he said, adding, “If a coach comes out of the team during the season, there may be major difficulties. We don’t know what kind of coach you will become, but we need to communicate first enough about the Korea Football Association, the coach, and the team we belong to. There should also be a courtesy toward the fans.” 여우알바
He said it was a procedural reason, not a priority, to have a face-to-face interview with a foreign coach first. “The domestic coach is in the process of a league. If we interview foreign coaches face-to-face first and find the right person for them, we will go there and have a face-to-face meeting with them,” Chung said. Klinsmann has given up on his promise to “resident in Korea” from the beginning. Korean soccer was so relaxed and played with his smile until the very last minute. Chung chose “the part where we can have a consensus on Korean culture” as his first hand as a condition for selecting a foreign coach.