Amid South Korea's failure to advance past the group stage at the 2026 North America World Cup, football content creator Gamst unleashed a torrent of criticism at head coach Hong Myung-bo and the Korea Football Association.
On Sunday, Gamst posted a video titled "Gamst — Korea eliminated in the group stage… Hong Myung-bo, get out!!" to his YouTube channel.
"We're out. Every possible scenario fell apart," he said in the video. "Honestly, if we had just beaten or drawn with South Africa, it would have been over."
Gamst said the team "threw away the entire first half" against South Africa by not fielding key players such as Son Heung-min and Lee Jae-sung from the start. "Is it right that what could be Son Heung-min's last World Cup ends with a substitute appearance against South Africa?" he said. He also took aim at Hong's tactical decisions, saying he had "no idea what kind of delusion of grandeur leads him to draw up such bizarre tactics."
Gamst also took issue with Hong's demeanor after the match. "If he had even a shred of remorse, he should have bowed his head and said, 'This is my responsibility' — but he was smiling through the interview, and I just can't understand that," he said. He criticized Hong for speaking as though he had no connection to the result, saying the coach used language along the lines of "I don't know why we ended up like that against South Africa."
Gamst admitted that part of him had wanted the team to suffer a humiliating defeat under Hong's management, but said his support for the players kept him watching. "Even so, because players like Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae and Hwang In-beom are in there, wasn't I watching with the hope of 'let's still cheer them on, please just let us face Belgium once'?" he said, expressing a sense of deflation.
Gamst called for Hong to resign voluntarily. "Didn't you say you'd applaud if we made it to the round of 32? You said you'd take responsibility, so please just stop and step down," he said. "Are you really going to lead the national team all the way to the Asian Cup in January in this state? If things continue like this, Korean football is completely finished." He also raised the issue of a contract buyout, saying that if the KFA was hesitant to fire Hong over the penalty clause, "Hong himself should resign of his own accord."
Gamst then turned his fire on the Korea Football Association. "KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu announced his intention to resign before the World Cup, but it can't end there," he said. "The KFA needs to be overhauled from the ground up — everyone who voted him in and everyone who has simply been holding their positions under him must be replaced, and they need to start over from scratch." He also called out KFA director Lee Im-saeng by name, demanding his resignation despite Lee having already announced his intention to step down.
"Hong Myung-bo, get out. I'm begging you, please just leave. Lee Im-saeng too — just everyone, all of you, get out. Just stop," Gamst said, repeating his calls for a clean sweep.
choigo@heraldcorp.com
