South Africa 1-0 South Korea: FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout stages for the first time in their history after Thapelo Maseko‘s second-half strike sealed a 1-0 victory over South Korea in Monterrey, Mexico, on Thursday morning.
Maseko wasted several chances before converting the decisive one, finishing low from Tshepang Moremi‘s precise delivery 16 minutes into the second half to put the result beyond doubt and send the Bafana Bafana through as runners-up in Group A, confirmed by the Czech Republic’s 3-0 defeat to group winners Mexico in the simultaneous fixture.
South Korea, meanwhile, ended the group stage with three points and remains in contention as a potential best third-placed qualifier — though they will need to wait for the rest of the final group-stage results before their fate becomes clear.
Thereafter, however, South Africa were considerably more threatening on the counter-attack, particularly down South Korea’s left side between Lee Tae-seok and Gi-hyuk Lee.
Maseko received a through ball and was only denied by Lee’s block inside the area, before firing another attempt narrowly over the bar. Thalente Mbatha’s long-range drive also forced goalkeeper Seung-gyu Kim into a significant stop.