South Africa celebrates after Thapelo Maseko's goal against Korea during the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage match in Monterrey, Mexico, on June 24.YONHAP
Korea failed to secure automatic qualification for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after suffering a 1-0 defeat to South Africa in their final Group A match.
The Bafana Bafana scored the only goal of the match in the 63rd minute at Monterrey Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, on Wednesday. Tshepang Moremi stormed down the left flank and drilled a cross into the penalty area to Thapelo Maseko, who fired it in from 12 yards out past a diving Kim Seung-gyu.
Korea struggled to turn dominant possession — 60 percent to 33 percent with 7 percent "in contest," according to FIFA — into a meaningful threat, with South Africa outshooting them 13 to eight. The Bafana Bafana had four shots on target to the Taeguk Warriors' three, but only one mattered at the end of the day.
While manager Hong Myung-bo made only one change to the starting XI in defense and midfield, bringing Lee Tae-seok back into the fold after benching him against Mexico, up top, he dropped captain Son Heung-min and his attacking foil for the last decade, Lee Jae-sung, in favor of Oh Hyeon-gyu and Hwang Hee-chan.
Despite a lively start, neither side could break the deadlock, and Hong decided to bring Son on for Hwang on the left flank while also subbing on Jens Castrop as left wing back and Kim Jin-kyu for Paik Seung-ho.
After South Africa scored, the gaffer made a surprising substitution, bringing on Park Jin-seob for Kim Min-jae in the 65th minute. He then attempted to inject some life into the attack with Cho Gue-sung coming on almost 10 minutes later, but a compact, organized defense stymied efforts to play down the center of the park.
Forced out to the flanks, all Korea could do was pump crosses into the box, but nothing came of it.
The defeat continued an unfavorable trend against African opponents at the World Cup. The Warriors have now conceded the opening goal in all five of their World Cup matches against African teams, managing just one win, one draw and three losses.
Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu dives as Thapelo Maseko scores South Africa's opening goal at Monterrey Stadium during the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage match on June 24.YONHAP
In the other Group A match the same day, Mexico thumped the Czech Republic 3-0 to finish the group stage with three wins.
Had the European side beaten the co-hosts, Korea would have finished bottom of the group with three points from one win and two losses and been eliminated. Instead, Mexico's victory kept Korea's hopes alive with a third-place finish in Group A.
The Warriors must now wait for the remaining group-stage matches to determine whether they can advance to the round of 32 as one of the eight best third-place teams.
South Africa, which had been widely regarded as the weakest team in the group, secured their first group-stage victory by defeating Korea, sealing second place in the group with four points from one win, one draw and one loss to earn a place in the round of 32 against Group B runner-up Canada on Sunday.
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This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
