Even after World Cup dud, players will still pocket 80 million won bonuses

Every Korean national footballer will receive 80 million won ($52,000) in bonuses despite the team's early exit from the FIFA World Cup 2026, as players remain eligible for the Korea Football Association's (KFA) base payment and group-stage win bonus.

Korea, led by manager Hong Myung-bo, failed to advance to the Round of 32 after finishing third in Group A with one win and two losses. It collected three points and finished with a goal difference of minus one. 

The KFA will still pay out a combined 2.08 billion won in bonuses to all players despite the team's group-stage exit. Under the association’s bonus scheme, every player on the final 26-man squad receives a base payment of 50 million won.

An additional 30 million won is awarded for each group-stage victory. Korea earned that bonus with its win over the Czech Republic. With no draws in the group-stage matches, the 10 million won bonus for each draw will not be awarded.

The team likewise earned no advancement bonus after failing to reach the knockout stage. The association had set bonuses of 100 million won per player for reaching the Round of 32, 200 million won for the Round of 16 and 300 million won for the quarterfinals.

KFA President Chung Mong-gyu had also pledged additional bonuses funded from his own pocket to boost the team's morale, but those payments will not be made after Korea's group-stage exit. Chung had promised 1 billion won if the team reached the Round of 32, 2 billion won for the Round of 16 and 3 billion won for the quarterfinals.

As a result, each member of Korea's 26-man squad is expected to receive the same 80 million won bonus — comprising the 50 million won base payment and the 30 million won awarded for the team's single group-stage victory — regardless of whether they played or how many minutes they logged during the tournament.

The Taeguk Warriors opened the tournament with a 2-1 comeback victory over the Czech Republic before falling 1-0 to host Mexico in their second group-stage match. Korea’s World Cup were then snuffed after a 1-0 loss to South Africa in its final group-stage match, although even just a draw would have been enough to send it through to the knockout stages.

Korea also failed to earn one of the eight wild-card berths awarded to the best third-place teams and finished the tournament in 34th place overall.

BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]