Robert Moreno named South Korea's interim head coach

Just six years ago, Robert Moreno found himself on Spain's bench in the middle of an emotional storm: Luis Enrique had stepped away because of his daughter Xana's illness, and someone needed to keep things steady. That stint lasted only a few months. Now, at 48, the Catalan coach is once again taking on an emergency job, though this time more than 9,000 kilometers away, with a different language, a different soccer culture and a completely different set of expectations.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) confirmed on Tuesday that Moreno will serve as interim head coach of the men's national team. On paper, his contract is short: it runs through November 27 and initially covers six matches. But the fine print leaves an intriguing door open, since if his results win over the federation, Moreno could remain in charge through the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, set for early 2027.

The job had been vacant since the 2026 World Cup, and Moreno isn't arriving alone. The KFA also approved the addition of five other staff members, all of them Spanish, so the South Korean locker room is set to hear plenty of Spanish in the coming months.

A schedule that starts right away

There's no time to ease into things. Moreno will make his debut on September 24 against Ecuador, on South Korean soil, and just four days later he'll face Uruguay. October brings two more dates: Venezuela on the 2nd and Uzbekistan on the 6th. Four friendlies in under two weeks that will essentially serve as an entrance exam, with the federation set to evaluate that opening stretch before deciding whether to extend his tenure on the road to the Asian Cup.

Moreno's resume explains why the KFA put its trust in him. He was Luis Enrique's right hand man with the Spanish national team and, in 2019, took charge of nine matches for the squad, first filling in during an absence and later taking over fully after Luis Enrique left the post. He then tried his hand as a head coach at Monaco in France, had a spell at Granada in Spain, and most recently wrapped up a stint at Sochi in Russia, a club he led until September 2025.

The South Korean federation itself explained what drew it to Moreno, pointing to his use of data in tactical planning and opponent analysis, along with a knowledge of Asian soccer that, according to the KFA, stood out clearly during the selection process for the job.

And that's what makes this hire different: it's the first time the KFA has chosen a men's national team coach through an open public call. That's not a transparency gesture for its own sake. It comes after the mess of 2024, when the appointment of Hong Myung-bo came under suspicion for a lack of clarity in the process, with irregularities flagged by South Korea's own Ministry of Sports.

Hong ended up resigning this past June, after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup, beating the Czech Republic (2-1) but losing to Mexico (1-0) and South Africa (1-0). With that recent history in mind, the pressure on Moreno isn't purely about results on the field. He also has to prove that the new, more open selection system, with clear rules, was the right way forward.