March 2 – South Korea have turned to former Germany and United States manager Jurgen Klinsmann to lead them through to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. First he will have to navigate them through qualifying.
Klinsmann’s last coaching job was in 2020 at Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. He now moves back into national team management taking over from Portugal’s Paulo Bento, who ended four years as head coach of South Korea at the Qatar World Cup, having guided them to a spot in the last 16.
Klinsmann is no stranger to World Cup success having guided host nation Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup and the United States into the knockout stages of the 2014 tournament. It could be argued that both teams over achieved considering the playing resources they had available.
His experience in the US would be valuable assuming the South Koreans qualify – they have played 11 times at the World Cup, including the 10 consecutive tournaments from 1986 to 2022.
Klinsmann was a World Cup winner as a player with Germany in 1990.
He begins his three-and-a-half-year deal with South Korea with a home friendly against Colombia in Ulsan on March 24.
“I am very happy and honoured to be following in the footsteps of great coaches who have directed the Korean national team, from Guus Hiddink to former coach Paulo Bento,” Klinsmann said.
“I know that the Korean national team has been improving and achieving results over a long period of time. I will do my best to achieve successful results in the upcoming Asian Cup and 2026 World Cup.”
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