Five foreigners reportedly make short list for interim manager of Korean men's football
The interim coach will lead the Korean men's football team during its international matches from September through November.
The Korea Football Association's headquarters in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 1
NEWS1
All five candidates who passed the initial screening to become the interim manager of the Korean men’s national football team are foreigners, according to media reports.
Gus Poyet, the former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager who had been considered a leading candidate, reportedly failed to pass the document screening process.
“We completed screening applicants’ documents over the weekend, which included reviewing their eligibility, verifying their results and notifying candidates of whether they had passed,” the Korea Football Association (KFA) reportedly said. “We plan to conduct online interviews this week.”
Several Korean and foreign coaches applied for the interim position, according to sources in the football community.
Poyet was previously one of the final candidates when the national team was searching for a head coach in 2024. He emerged again as a potential candidate for the national team job after leading Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to a K League 1 and Korea Cup double last year.
After conducting the interviews, the KFA plans to rank the candidates based on its assessment committee’s evaluations and begin negotiations with the finalists.
The association has not disclosed the candidates’ names.
Last month, the KFA’s board approved a process to appoint an interim coach — through open recruitment — to lead the team during its international matches from September through November. Korea will face Ecuador on Sept. 24, Uruguay on Sept. 28, Venezuela on Oct. 2 and Uzbekistan on Oct. 6.
The national team has been without a head coach since former manager Hong Myung-bo stepped down after Korea failed to advance to the knockout stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
