'Worst Year Ever': Lee Kyung-kyu Rips KFA Over Korea's 2026 World Cup Failure

Veteran South Korean comedian Lee Kyung-kyu has unloaded on the Korea Football Association after the national team crashed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the group stage. The longtime soccer fan called the run the worst he has seen in more than three decades of following the team to World Cups.

On November 28, his YouTube channel "Godkyungkyu" posted a video titled "Waiting for 2030, I'll Stop Here." Lee, who has traveled to World Cups to cheer on the team since 1994, said this year hit a new low. "This year was the worst. It started the worst and ended the worst," he said. He criticized how the team handled star forward Son Heung-min. "They made a huge fuss leaving Son Heung-min out, and then they didn't play him at all. That makes no sense."

Lee said he is bracing for a long wait before the next chance to reset. "The Asian Cup is in Saudi Arabia in 2027. There are only seven or eight months left. How am I supposed to hold in this anger that long? It's not going to fade quickly," he said. He pointed to past failures as proof that nothing has changed. "We went through something similar in 2014, and the same thing happened again. That's unbelievable. This whole mess started when Coach Klinsmann came in."

He blamed the team's struggles on deeper problems inside Korean soccer's leadership. "If a bowl cracks, gluing it back together still leaves a line. You have to throw the bowl out," he said. "They should have pulled it out by the roots back then. They never fixed it properly, and now this is what we get."

Lee also voiced worry about the 2030 World Cup. "I hope Son Heung-min doesn't retire," he said. "The coach will change, right? What if they just keep going the same way? I'll lose my mind."

He then turned to humor, floating the idea of running for KFA president himself. "Maybe I should run for KFA president and put a team together," he said. "Tonight I'm going to meet Yoon-seok and tell him, 'I'm running for KFA president, so round up some people.' Maybe I'll put Soo-geun and Kang Ho-dong up front and run in the KFA election," he joked, drawing laughs.

The South Korean national team finished the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage with one win and two losses, missing the round of 32. Former head coach Hong Myung-bo resigned after the team's poor results.