Roberto Moreno named interim head coach of South Korea national football team

Roberto Moreno, a 48-year-old Spanish coach, has been appointed interim head coach of the South Korea national football team, tasked with leading the side through six A-matches in the second half of the year.

The Korea Football Association held its seventh board meeting of the year Tuesday at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, and approved Moreno's appointment. Along with Moreno, six members of his coaching staff were confirmed.

Moreno takes charge of a post left vacant after Hong Myung-bo resigned following South Korea's group-stage elimination at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup. He will lead the team through four A-matches in September and October and two more in November.

"Given the significant public attention to procedural legitimacy and fairness in this appointment, we made considerable efforts to comply with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's standards," said Hyun Young-min, chair of the KFA's national team performance enhancement committee.

Hyun added that Moreno had impressed the committee with his deep understanding of Korean football and his ability to offer diverse tactical alternatives. "We expect Moreno and his staff, selected through a rigorous process, to play their part in revitalizing the national team's atmosphere and improving its performances," he said.

Moreno's contract runs through Nov. 27, but an extension is possible. The KFA included a clause allowing his tenure to be extended through the 2027 Asian Cup, set for January next year, depending on results over the six matches.

The arrangement appears to reflect the possibility that electing a new KFA president could be delayed, depending on the pace of governance reform in Korean football. Appointing a permanent head coach while the presidency remains vacant would be difficult.

Should Moreno perform well, his chances of being named permanent head coach would grow considerably. He has prior experience making that transition — he was promoted from interim to permanent coach of the Spanish national team.

A member of the coaching setup under Luis Enrique, who now manages Paris Saint-Germain, Moreno stepped in as interim coach of Spain in March 2019 when Enrique stepped away to care for his ill daughter. After guiding the side through three matches, Moreno was appointed permanent coach in June of that year, only to step down five months later when Enrique returned.

Moreno served as assistant coach at FC Barcelona from 2014 to 2017. After leaving the Spanish national team setup, he went on to manage Monaco in France, Granada in Spain and Sochi in Russia.

His entire coaching staff is also Spanish. Eduardo Docampo, who worked alongside Moreno at Sochi, joins as first assistant coach, supported by Jacinto Magriña, a specialist in analysis and training methodology; Víctor Bravo Desoto, who has managed clubs in Spain's lower divisions; Javier Chocarro, a physical coach with experience across major European leagues; and Nico Bosch, a goalkeeper coach with 10 years in La Liga.

The KFA selected the interim coach through an open recruitment process for the first time, in line with national team selection and management regulations the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee revised in February.

The board decided at a late-July meeting to fill the interim coaching role through open recruitment. A selection committee comprising some performance enhancement committee members and external evaluators reviewed applications, conducted online interviews, held in-person meetings and negotiated contract terms before finalizing the appointment last weekend.

The final shortlist was reported to include Moreno alongside Domènec Torrent, Jesús Casas and Erwin Koeman.