After Asia’s World Cup stumble, resignations pile up from Seoul to Riyadh

The fallout in Asian football continues as the continent comes to terms with an underwhelming World Cup performance.

On Monday, Chung Mong-gyu stepped down as president of the Korea Football Association.

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His departure follows harsh criticism from the country's president and the resignation of coach Hong Myung-bo last week after South Korea's group-stage exit that culminated in a 1-0 loss to South Africa.

"There were moments when I lived up to expectations and moments when I left you deeply disappointed," said Chung, who has held the role since 2013. "All the success is thanks to our players and fans, and all the mistakes are my responsibility.

"I am convinced that Korean football will overcome adversity and reach great heights once again, as it always has."

South Korea's soccer superstar Son Heung-min apologized for the team's performance in a long social media post where he said he was "indescribably hurt" and eager to "win the hearts" of the nation once again.

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The day after Hong stood down as South Korea's coach, Yasser Al-Misehal quit as Saudi Arabia Football Federation president as the team fell at the first hurdle at its seventh appearance.

"The national team's failure to qualify for the next round of the World Cup ⁠is a result that falls short of all our ambitions," Al-Misehal wrote on social media. "I bear full responsibility for it, apologizing to everyone who hoped to see our team in a better position."

Not enough wins

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.

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Australia and Japan were eliminated in the round of 32, the very first stage of knockouts.

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

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, the Samurai Blue lost to a 96th minute goal from the five-time champion.

"Through 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," coach Hajime Moriyasu said. "If we continue this growth steadily, a day will come when we can be the best in the world."

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Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, warned that there's a lot of work to do for the rest to catch up.

"While we celebrate our two qualified teams, we must also look realistically at the overall outcomes," Salman said of the knockout stages of the tournament. "Our 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."

South Korea's run to the semifinals in 2002 remains the continent's benchmark at the men's World Cup. Japan has lost four times in the knockout stages and Australia is 0-3 in World Cup knockout games.

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.

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There is still speculation about the future of the Qatar and Iraq coaches after both teams finished bottom of their respective groups.

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

Uzbekistan's last loss was to Congo, one of nine African nations to advance from the group stage.

"All my players realized just how difficult it is to play at this level," Cannavaro, who was captain of the World Cup-winning Italy team in 2006 title, said. "We gained valuable experience — not just the players, but myself, our staff and the federation as well.

"I hope this experience will give us more motivation for the future."

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