Kim Jin-gyu vows no repeat of listless display if given another chance

South Korea midfielder Kim Jin-gyu has vowed that if given another chance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, he and his teammates will never again put in the kind of listless performance that cost them automatic advancement to the round of 32.

Kim spoke to reporters Sunday at the Chivas Valle Verde training ground in Zapopan, Mexico. "If we get the chance, everyone will put their heads down and run like crazy," he said. "We will never again show the kind of lifeless display we did in the third match."

South Korea fell 0-1 to South Africa on Thursday in their Group A finale, dropping to third place in the group. The team failed to secure a round-of-32 berth outright and must now wait on results from other groups.

Kim made his World Cup debut when he came on late in the second half of the opening group-stage match against the Czech Republic. He was an unused substitute in the second match against Mexico, then played roughly 45 minutes after being introduced at the start of the second half against South Africa.

"We won the first game and went into the second and third matches in a favorable position," Kim said. "I thought we were capable of getting results in both, so it's disappointing that we didn't. Particularly the second match — I still feel that was the one we could have taken points from, and that's my biggest regret."

He attributed the team's flat showing in the third match, compared to the first two, to repeated mistakes.

"During a game there are things you can control, but unexpected errors also creep in," Kim said. "Even with experience, managing yourself mentally in the middle of a match isn't easy. Small mistakes led to counterattacks, and in the sweltering heat those situations kept repeating — I think that made things difficult in a lot of ways."

On the mood in the squad after the loss, Kim said silence dominated at first. "Rather than talking much, there was a long period of quiet. The result and situation were not what any of us wanted, and no one could easily open their mouth," he said. "As time passed, we started talking to each other, and now we're discussing other teams' results and waiting."

Kim also relayed what coach Hong Myung-bo told the squad at a team meeting after the match. "The coach said briefly, 'The results are the manager's responsibility,' and added, 'All we can do right now is watch, so let's get through the remaining training sessions well and wait,'" Kim said.