South Korean captain Son Heung-min has apologized to fans after the national team pulled out of the 2026 tournament. FIFA World Cup. Known as one of Asia’s greatest footballers, Heung-min expressed deep regret over their failure to meet the expectations of the ‘Korean people and all those who love football.’
Son said he and his teammates understand the anger of their fans and admitted that an apology alone cannot compensate for the team’s bad results. He asked the fans to continue to support the team despite doing badly.
“I don’t know where to start. I can’t pretend I don’t know, and I don’t want to avoid reality. First of all, I would like to say sorry to all Korean people and fans who love soccer. As a soccer lover, I think it would be very unfortunate, disappointing, and difficult if I watched this kind of match. So, I would dare to hurt this kind of fans. word, that is, I’m sorry, I wanted to pass these words to the fans who have a harder time than anyone who has different feelings every day, every second,” he wrote.
Heung-min added, “It was a competition that was more important to me than anyone else, and the ‘kid’s dream stage’ that I always talked about has fallen. I’m stuck and hurt a lot. To be honest, it’s still not easy to accept this fact. When I think about my fans who will have more feelings of disappointment and hurt than me. I think that my fans will be very careful, but even I am careful about my feelings. from me.”
The footballer further asked the fans that ‘instead of giving too much criticism and hurting all the players, no matter how difficult it is, please support and encourage them.’
South Korea entered the tournament with high hopes and won against the Czech Republic. However, consecutive defeats to Mexico and South Africa have ended their dream of winning the World Cup. Following the team’s elimination, head coach Hong Myung-bo resigned from his position.
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