South Korea opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, but back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Mexico and South Africa left them third in Group A.
The report says South Korea finished with three points from one win and two defeats. Under the expanded 48-team format, the top two sides in each group qualify automatically, while the eight strongest third-placed teams also advance.
That structure kept South Korea alive after the group stage, but it also made their narrow defeats costly. A single additional point would have changed the pressure around the final standings.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s win reportedly lifted them to four points, enough to move into third place in their group and above South Korea in the third-placed ranking.
South Korea consequently dropped to ninth, one place outside the qualification positions. With only the top eight third-placed teams progressing, the result in Group K ended the team’s remaining mathematical chance of reaching the round of 32.
The frustration lies in how close the margin was. South Korea were not eliminated by a heavy defeat in their final group match; their campaign was closed by a combination of their own two narrow losses and a result elsewhere that moved another team ahead of them.
The squad is due to hold a closing press conference on 29 June before returning home, according to the report. The next storyline will be whether the coaching staff can turn a three-point exit into a stronger qualifying campaign, with the focus likely to fall on defensive resilience and the team’s ability to protect promising tournament starts.