Hong's successor Moreno arrives to take charge of 6 A-matches

Roberto Moreno, named interim head coach of the South Korean national football team, arrived Sunday with his coaching staff and began preparations to lead the side through six A-matches.

Moreno touched down at Incheon International Airport on Sunday alongside five coaching staff members who will assist him.

The Korea Football Association launched an open recruitment process to find a successor to Hong Myung-bo, who resigned after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, following procedures set out under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's national team selection and operations guidelines.

The KFA appointed Moreno as interim head coach on Sept. 1, citing the strong enthusiasm and understanding of Korean football he demonstrated during his in-person interview.

Moreno served as assistant coach at FC Barcelona from 2014 to 2017 and briefly took charge of the Spanish national team in 2019. He subsequently managed Monaco, Granada and Sochi.

Joining him on the national team coaching staff are Eduardo Docampo, his former assistant at Sochi, along with coaches Jacinto Marín and Víctor Bravo Desoto, fitness coach Javier Chocarro and goalkeeper coach Nico Bosch.

The KFA rounded out the staff by adding full-time coaches Jo Yong-hyeong and Lee Jae-hong as fitness coach.

Moreno will oversee six A-matches in total — four in September and October and two in November. His contract runs through Nov. 27 but may be extended depending on how those six matches go.

The KFA also included a provision in the contract that would keep him in charge through the 2027 Asian Cup, set to be held in January next year.

Moreno's first task is to finalize the squad for the four-match A-match series in September and October.

The national team will face Ecuador at Suwon World Cup Stadium on Sept. 24, then take on Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 28. The run continues with a match against Venezuela at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium on Oct. 2, followed by a clash with Uzbekistan at Yongin Mir Stadium on Oct. 6.

Moreno will hold his inaugural press conference Monday at 2 p.m. at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, where he will also announce the squad for the September and October A-matches.