Coach Park Hang Seo will only join a Thai club after the 2026 World Cup

Park Hang Seo leads a Thai Second Division team, making a comeback to coaching following a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, agreeing to a two-year deal with Kanchanaburi Power FC, and naming Lee Jung Soo as his top assistant.

Accordingly, former Vietnam national team head coach Park Hang Seo (68) will end a 3-year-6-month break to return to coaching. Thailand will serve as the stage for this veteran coach’s new challenge.

DJ Management, Park Hang Seo’s management company, stated today (May 25): "Coach Park Hang Seo, who wrote a legend for Vietnamese football, will begin a major challenge in Thailand," and also announced: "He has signed a two-year contract with Kanchanaburi Power FC of the Thai Second Division and will take the position of head coach."

Since Coach Park is currently serving as the head of the support delegation for the 2026 World Cup under the Korea Football Association, he will join Kanchanaburi Power FC after completing his duties with the national team at the World Cup this July. His first assistant has been confirmed as Coach Lee Jung Soo.

Coach Park Hang Seo previously led the Vietnam national team to many outstanding achievements, such as winning the AFF Cup, finishing as runner-up in the AFC U23 Asian Cup (both in 2018), reaching the men's football semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup, winning two consecutive SEA Games gold medals, and for the first time in history taking Vietnam to the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. For these accomplishments, he has been hailed as a "hero" of Vietnamese football.

After parting ways with the Vietnam national team in January 2023, Coach Park Hang Seo expressed his intention not to continue as a head coach in South Korea or Vietnam to give opportunities to the younger generation, while focusing on supporting the development of Vietnamese youth football.

In that context, last May he was appointed as the head of the support delegation for the 2026 World Cup to prepare for the event. He is scheduled to depart for Salt Lake City (USA) on May 29 to assist the team led by Coach Hong Myung Bo.

After completing his role as "head of the World Cup support delegation" in July, Coach Park Hang Seo will travel to Thailand to begin his work leading Kanchanaburi Power FC.

Kanchanaburi Power FC finished at the bottom of the Thai League last season and will compete in the Second Division starting from the 2026/27 season.

According to DJ Management, to pursue a new development step, the club directly met with Coach Park Hang Seo and persuaded him by presenting the team's future development roadmap.

Through DJ Management, Coach Park Hang Seo shared: "During this time, I have received offers from Vietnam as well as many other Southeast Asian countries but declined them all.

However, the long-term vision and sincerity toward football presented by Kanchanaburi Power FC awakened the spirit of challenge within me. I will give my utmost effort with the responsibility of representing Korean football."