Former national team head coach Paulo Bento has conveyed his willingness to return to the helm of the South Korean national football team to the Korea Football Association (KFA).
A KFA official said on the 7th, “No documents have been submitted to the National Team Strengthening Committee yet, but Bento expressed his interest through a KFA employee he knows.”
The national team head coach position is currently vacant. After South Korea was eliminated in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, former head coach Hong Myung-bo stepped down to take responsibility for the disappointing result. The KFA held its first National Team Strengthening Committee meeting on the 3rd and began the search for a successor.
Bento is the longest-serving single-term head coach in the history of the national team, having led South Korea from September 2018 for four years and four months. He guided the team to the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In a recent interview, he pointed out that four head coaches, including interim managers, had come and gone during the four years after he left, arguing that Korean football had lost continuity and direction.
As the selection procedure and method have not yet been finalized, he is not yet at the official candidate registration stage. Whether Bento will return will be decided after discussions by the Strengthening Committee.
It has been three and a half years since he left. Paulo Bento is once again reaching for the South Korea national team’s steering wheel.
A KFA official said on the 7th, “No documents have yet been received by the National Team Strengthening Committee,” but added, “Bento conveyed his interest in the Korean head coach position through a KFA employee he knows.” The association had previously denied rumors that Bento had applied. In reality, it has now been confirmed that his intention was passed along through informal channels.
The procedure and method for selecting the next head coach have not yet been decided. He has not yet reached the stage of official candidate registration or submitting an application.
◆ The vacancy created by group-stage elimination
The national team manager’s seat is empty. South Korea was eliminated in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup in North America. It failed to advance to the round of 32 in a tournament expanded to 48 teams. Former head coach Hong Myung-bo stepped down, taking responsibility for the poor performance.
On the 3rd, the association held the first meeting of the National Team Strengthening Committee and began reviewing candidates. However, since the selection process is still in its early stages, Bento’s expressed desire to return is not believed to have been formally put on the committee’s agenda.
Bento has deep ties to Korean football. He took office in September 2018 and led the team for four years and four months, the longest tenure of any single national team coach. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he led Korea to the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years. After the tournament, he left Korea without renewing his contract. He took charge of the United Arab Emirates national team in July 2023 and left that post last May. He currently has no team.
◆ Four head coaches in four years, and the structure that brought Bento back into the conversation
The reason Bento’s name is surfacing again lies in the structural problems Korean football has been facing, above all the frequent changes in head coach.
The turnover built up quickly. After Bento left, the association appointed Jürgen Klinsmann, but he was dismissed after one year. A period of interim coaching followed, and when Hong Myung-bo was appointed in 2024, controversy arose over the fairness of the selection process. Even Hong’s tenure ended with the team’s elimination in the World Cup group stage. As coaches came and went, many in football say the national team’s footballing philosophy had no time to take root.
After South Korea’s elimination was confirmed, Bento addressed that issue directly in an interview. “I had the chance to fully coach one team for just over four years, but after I left, Korea went through four head coaches in four years, including interim managers,” he said. He added, “A coach needs enough time to build trust with players, maximize their strengths, and establish a clear style of play.”
He also offered his diagnosis of the elimination. “A situation like group-stage elimination is not usually something that can be blamed on one or two people,” he said, adding, “What matters is to go back to the beginning and rebuild from one to ten.” In other words, replacing the coach alone would not be enough. It was a sharp criticism of the association’s broader system.
This is also why the Bento era is being re-evaluated. Some in football say his four years in charge were marked by a consistent footballing philosophy, and that the result was the round-of-16 run in Qatar. Some fans are leaving comments on his wife’s social media accounts asking him to return and lead the national team, or pleading for him to “save Korean football.”
◆ Variables still standing in the way of a reunion
His return is not guaranteed. There are still steps to clear.
First, the procedure. The KFA has not yet finalized the method for selecting the next coach. Depending on whether it chooses a public call, recommendation, or direct negotiation, Bento’s position will change as well. It has also not yet been decided how the Strengthening Committee will narrow down domestic and overseas candidates. Having already faced procedural controversy in the previous appointment, designing a transparent process is being seen as just as important a task as the result itself.
There are also questions of validation. Views on Bento were mixed even during his tenure. Opinions differed over his build-up-from-the-back style, and he was also criticized for a narrow player selection pool. His results with the UAE national team are also expected to be part of the committee’s review.
The fact that the two sides previously parted ways is another variable. After the Qatar World Cup, contract renewal talks did not come to fruition. It is difficult to rule out the possibility that disagreements over contract terms and support systems could resurface.
The ball is now in the KFA’s court. The question Bento has raised goes beyond choosing a head coach. This appointment will also test whether the association can build a system that breaks the cycle of repeated changes every four years.