After Klinsmann’s exit: South Korea presents U23 coach Hwang as interim coach

For the next 2 World Cup qualifying games

After Jürgen Klinsmann left South Korea as coach, the association presented an interim coach. The coach of the U23 youth team, Sun-hong Hwang, will look after the national team for the two upcoming World Cup qualifiers in March, the national association KFA announced on Tuesday. A new national coach is to be appointed at the beginning of May.

The association parted ways with Klinsmann after the team’s surprise failure in the Asian Cup semi-final against Jordan this month. The former national coach only took over the position in South Korea a year ago and scored an average of 1.88 points from 17 games. The association originally wanted to select a full-time coach to replace Klinsmann, but then decided otherwise.

In the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, South Korea’s next opponent is the team from Thailand. The return leg takes place on March 21st and 26th. Under Klinsmann, South Korea started qualifying with two wins against Singapore and China.

Hwang led his team to win the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. The 55-year-old former professional was in the squad of the South Korean national team that took fourth place at the 2002 World Cup in their own country.

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