South Africa pulled off one of the surprises of the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage, overcoming the odds to snatch a place in the knockout rounds ahead of South Korea. Most bookmakers had tipped the Koreans to come out on top in this crucial battle, but the South Africans produced their most complete performance of the tournament when it mattered most.

The foundations for this achievement were laid in their previous encounter against Czech Republic. In that match, the South Africans spent much of the second half under intense pressure, defending deep and absorbing wave after wave of attacks. Yet they refused to break.

The reward arrived in the form of the only goal of the match — a decisive strike by Maseko, that secured a priceless victory and ultimately delivered second place in Group A.

World Cup 2026

RSA - South Korea 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: Maseko, 63 (1:0)

RSA: Williams Ro.; Modiba; Mbokazi; Mudau; Okon; Mbatha; Sithole; Appollis (Moremi, 62); Mofokeng (Adams J., 80); Maseko (Rayners, 75); Makgopa
Substitution: Moremi (from 62); Rayners (from 75); Adams J. (from 80)
Bench: Chaine; Goss; Matuludi; Ndamane; Kabini; Sibisi; Makhanya; Sebelebele; Cross; Foster L.
Yellow Cards: Modiba 73

South Korea: Kim Seunggyu; Han-beom Lee; Lee Ki-hyuk; Kim Min-jae (Park Jin-seob, 66); Lee Tae-Seok (Castrop, 46); Seol Young-Woo; Hwang In-beom; Paik Seung-ho (Kim Jin-gyu, 46); Lee Kang-in; Hwang Hee-chan (Son Heungmin, 46); Oh Hyun-Gyu (Cho Gue-sung, 74)
Substitution: Castrop (from 46); Kim Jin-gyu (from 46); Son Heungmin (from 46); Park Jin-seob (from 66); Cho Gue-sung (from 74)
Bench: Song Bum-keun; Jo Hyeon-woo; Kim Tae-hyeon; Cho Wi-je; Kim Moon-hwan; Lee Jae-sung; Bae Joon-Ho; Yang Hyun-jun; Eom Ji-sung; Lee Dong-Gyeong
Yellow Cards: Cho Gue-sung 79