{"id":6449,"date":"2026-07-06T07:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6449"},"modified":"2026-07-06T07:34:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:34:51","slug":"after-asias-world-cup-stumble-resignations-pile-up-from-seoul-to-riyadh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6449","title":{"rendered":"After Asia\u2019s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
A Japan supporter reacts after the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Brazil and Japan in Houston, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The fallout in Asian football continues as the continent comes to terms with an underwhelming World Cup<\/a> performance.<\/p>

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On Monday, Chung Mong-gyu stepped down as president of the Korea Football Association.<\/p>\n

His departure follows harsh criticism<\/a> from the country\u2019s president and the resignation of coach Hong Myung-bo last week after South Korea\u2019s group-stage exit that culminated in a 1-0 loss to South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were moments when I lived up to expectations and moments when I left you deeply disappointed,\u201d said Chung, who has held the role since 2013. \u201cAll the success is thanks to our players and fans, and all the mistakes are my responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am convinced that Korean football will overcome adversity and reach great heights once again, as it always has.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s soccer superstar Son Heung-min apologized for the team\u2019s performance in a long social media post where he said he was \u201cindescribably hurt\u201d and eager to \u201cwin the hearts\u201d of the nation once again.<\/p>\n

The day after Hong stood down as South Korea\u2019s coach, Yasser Al-Misehal quit as Saudi Arabia Football Federation president<\/a> as the team fell at the first hurdle at its seventh appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe national team\u2019s failure to qualify for the next round of the World Cup \u2060is a result that falls short of all our ambitions,\u201d Al-Misehal wrote on social media. \u201cI bear full responsibility for it, apologizing to everyone who hoped to see our team in a better position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams from within the Asian Football Confederation managed just three wins in 29 matches at the expanded 48-team World Cup. Of the nine representatives, only Australia and Japan advanced from the group stage. Iran was unbeaten but three draws were not quite enough to take the team into the knockout stage.<\/p>\n

Australia and Japan were eliminated in the round of 32, the very first stage of knockouts.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos, the AFC\u2019s last hope, lost in a penalty shootout to Egypt<\/a> . Australia head coach Tony Popovic’s job was already safe<\/a> after he signed a contract extension on the eve of his team\u2019s opening win over Turkey<\/a> .<\/p>

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Japan was the best performer with a 4-0 win over Tunisia 4-0 and draws with the Netherlands and Sweden to place second in its group. Then after leading Brazil 1-0 at halftime<\/a> , the Samurai Blue lost to a 96th minute goal from the five-time champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the three group-stage matches and the hard-fought game against Brazil, I sensed that what we have built can compete on the world stage,\u201d coach Hajime Moriyasu<\/a> said. \u201cIf we continue this growth steadily, a day will come when we can be the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, warned that there\u2019s a lot of work to do for the rest to catch up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we celebrate our two qualified teams, we must also look realistically at the overall outcomes,\u201d Salman said of the knockout stages of the tournament. \u201cOur teams are making strides and displaying great fighting spirit, the gap at the absolute top tier remains tight, and we must continue to work hard to bridge it.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s run to the semifinals in 2002 remains the continent\u2019s benchmark at the men\u2019s World Cup. Japan has lost four times in the knockout stages and Australia is 0-3 in World Cup knockout games.<\/p>\n

Jordan lost all three games on its World Cup debut and parted ways with coach Jamal Sellami on Sunday. Sellami took the job in 2024 and helped Jordan secure its first World Cup qualification in June 2025.<\/p>\n

There is still speculation about the future of the Qatar and Iraq<\/a> coaches after both teams finished bottom of their respective groups.<\/p>\n

Uzbekistan also failed to collect a single point in its first appearance at the global tournament but coach Fabio Cannavaro is set to stay.<\/p>\n

Uzbekistan\u2019s last loss was to Congo, one of nine African nations<\/a> to advance from the group stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my players realized just how difficult it is to play at this level,\u201d Cannavaro, who was captain of the World Cup-winning Italy team in 2006 title, said. \u201cWe gained valuable experience \u2014 not just the players, but myself, our staff and the federation as well.<\/p>

Read more Red Sox pitcher Ranger Suarez leaves 7-5 win over Angels because of injury<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this experience will give us more motivation for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asian football is grappling with a disappointing World Cup performance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter Asia\u2019s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6449\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After Asia\u2019s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Asian football is grappling with a disappointing World Cup performance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6449\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T07:34:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3b094f5b601fdc337cb04be1c366cdb9-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"After Asia\u2019s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T07:34:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449\"},\"wordCount\":812,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e96652271584036a6ac166163da19da6-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6449\",\"name\":\"After Asia\u2019s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh - 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