Son Heung-min of Korea's national football team arrives at Incheon International Airport on July 1 after returning from the FIFA World Cup 2026.NEWS1
Only love for the captain: Fans welcome Son Heung-min home after World Cup exit
The supportive atmosphere at the airport stood in sharp contrast to the previous day’s, when fans jeered former national team head coach Hong Myung-bo and his group upon their arrival.
After angry and disappointed fans greeted former national football team manager Hong Myung-bo with loud jeers at the airport on Tuesday, they gathered again the next day, this time to offer words of encouragement to captain Son Heung-min and other players as they returned following Korea’s elimination at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Alongside Son of Los Angeles FC, other players — Lee Jae-sung of Mainz; Kim Seung-gyu of FC Tokyo; Song Bum-keun, Kim Jin-gyu and Cho Wi-je of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors; Eom Ji-sung of Swansea City; Lee Dong-gyeong of Ulsan HD; Lee Han-beom of Midtjylland; Lee Tae-seok of Austria Wien; Lee Gi-hyuk of Gangwon FC; Bae Jun-ho of Stoke City and Kang Sang-yoon of Hyundai Motors — arrived at Incheon International Airport early on Wednesday morning after completing their short-lived World Cup campaign.
The previous morning, manager Hong and eight others, including Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich and Hwang In-beom of Feyenoord, had returned to Korea first.
Though the players’ flight was scheduled to arrive at around 4 a.m., fans began gathering at the airport two hours earlier to welcome them home.
By the time the flight arrived, around 50 people, including curious onlookers, had crowded near the arrivals hall.
Son, Eom, Kim Seung-gyu and Song were the first to appear. The remaining players followed about 20 minutes later.
Son Heung-min of Korea's national football team arrives at Incheon International Airport on July 1 after returning from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.NEWS1
Lee Dong-gyeong of Korea's national football team arrives at Incheon International Airport on July 1 after returning from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.YONHAP
As Son exited the arrivals hall, fans shouted, “You worked hard!” “Fighting!” and “Keep your head up!”
Asked by reporters if he had a message to fans, Son simply replied, “I’m sorry.”
The players headed straight to the exit without making further comments.
The atmosphere at the airport stood in sharp contrast to the previous day’s, when about 300 fans jeered Hong and the other members of his group upon their arrival.
Lee Han-beom of Korea's national football team arrives at Incheon International Airport on July 1 after returning from the FIFA World Cup 2026.NEWS1
On Wednesday, however, supporters wore their favorite player’s jersey and held banners with supportive messages such as “Stay strong, Jae-sung” and “Son Heung-min forever.”
Korea, with one win and two losses for three points, finished third in Group A. The team was ranked No. 10 among the 12 third-place finishers and failed to advance to the Round of 32.
With the tournament expanded to 48 teams, Korea finished No. 34 overall — its lowest-ever finish at a World Cup, and two places below the worst possible finish at the last seven tournaments, which featured 32 teams.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
