[Sportschosun Lee Ji-hyun] As the South Korea national football team, led by Hong Myung-bo, failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an online post has brought renewed attention to the fact that SBS's 'Y-Story' had publicly called for tips related to the Korea Football Association (KFA) before the tournament began.
On the 28th, a post titled "SBS's current status after not buying the World Cup broadcast rights" spread across several online communities and social media platforms. The post included a notice from the 'Y-Story' production team that read, "We are waiting for tips from anyone who has worked at, or is currently working at, the Korea Football Association (KFA), or from anyone who is well aware of the internal affairs of the football association."
The tip-off request was posted on the official 'Y-Story' channel on March 31, before the World Cup opened. At the time, the national team was under fire over its performances after back-to-back losses in warm-up matches, 4-0 to Côte d'Ivoire and 0-1 to Austria. Criticism was also mounting over the KFA's overall management of the team and its administration.
SBS later did not broadcast this year's 2026 FIFA World Cup after negotiations with JTBC over broadcast rights broke down. Among terrestrial broadcasters, only KBS aired the tournament.
Based on the final group-stage results on the day, the national team finished third in Group A with one win and two losses, three points, and a goal difference of minus one, falling short of the round of 32. It also slipped outside the cutoff in the ranking among third-place teams, confirming elimination regardless of the remaining results.
Korean football, which reached the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and advanced to the round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, had hoped to reach the knockout stage for a second straight tournament but fell short.
As criticism of the KFA grows after the team's early exit, the old tip-off post from 'Y-Story' is also circulating again and drawing attention. However, SBS has not officially said whether it is actually producing a program on the KFA or planning to schedule one based on the tip-offs.
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
