South Africa has shocked the world by pulling off a 1-0 upset win over South Korea to clinch a place in the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in the nation’s history.
Thapelo Maseko scored the winner for the South Africans, who finished second in Group A behind Mexico. The Bafana Bafana will face Canada, who finished second in Group B, in the Round of 32 on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Though South Korea only earned three points, they’ve almost surely done enough to make it through as one of the eight best third-placed teams, as they possess a rather decent -1 goal differential. Many supercomputers and prediction markets have given South Korea a 95% to advance to the Round of 32. Should they advance, they will face one of five group winners, including Germany, based on one of the 495 potential third-place permutations.
South Africa manager Hugo Broos applauds team tactics
South Africa manager Hugo Broos, 74, became the oldest manager to ever win a FIFA World Cup match. Following the victory in Monterrey, Broos applauded his players for their fantastic work ethic and for their tactical performance.
The Belgian also reiterated that he’ll likely retire from management after being in charge of South Africa since 2021.
“I think we played a very good game tactically. It was very good; everyone did their job… I’m very proud of the performance of my team,” Broos said.
“It was an emotional moment. We came here to Mexico , and we wanted to survive the group stage… And that for me was really a moment of emotions, not only because we won the game, but also for me, because as I’ve said in the past, it probably will be one of the last games of my career.”
“When the Koreans had the ball, we tried to cover all the spaces, and I think we succeeded. But when we had the ball, it was dangerous for them because we used the spaces that they gave us. We had quick plays, and we have players who can find their spaces.”
“Today you saw a team that believed in itself… On Sunday, again, you will see a team that will believe in itself and that will fight for the 90 minutes, and more if we have to. And then we will see. But let’s hope we come out with a good result.”
As for South Korea, they may have to live with the fact that their enormous gamble, benching Heung-min Son for the first half, has come back to bite them. Son received some surprisingly quick benchings in the first two matches, leading many to believe that he’s dealing with an injury. Even when he came off the bench at halftime, the LAFC man proved ineffective, only firing one shot and touching the ball once in the South Africa box.
Czechia goes home as Mexico gives Memo Ochoa a perfect sendoff
In the other match in Group A, Mexico thumped Czechia 3-0 to give the Czechs a shock exit after they picked up just one point from their three matches. Mexico, on the other hand, enjoyed its first-ever perfect group-stage run. Mexico will face the third-placed team from Group C, E, F, H, or I in the Round of 32 in Mexico City on Tuesday, June 30th.
Mexico opened the scoring after 22-year-old left-back Mateo Chavez Garcia curled a shot beyond the Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar in the 55th minute. Julian Quinones, Mexico’s hero against South Africa, bagged his second goal of the tournament just six minutes later. Alvaro Fidalgo came off the bench to add a stoppage-time goal to cap off a perfect night at the Azteca.
Mexico’s legendary goalkeeper, Memo Ochoa, was given his fairytale moment as he played the final 12 minutes of the match in what’s likely to be his final game in a Mexico shirt. Ochoa is one of just three players to ever appear on six World Cup squads, along with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Though he had little to do, the 40-year-old Ochoa, whose name was chanted all night, was able to listen to over 85,000 fans sing all his personalized songs and chants that have been created over the last two decades.
Ochoa was tossed into the air by his teammates following his fitting sendoff with El Tri – his 154th and likely final cap. It was only fitting that he could enjoy the moment at the Estadio Azteca, where he made his professional debut all the way back in 2004.
“It’s the most beautiful thing that they recognize your effort,” Ochoa said of the fans after Mexico’s 3-0 win. “I always try to do it for them, to leave a mark. I think that today was a perfect closing.
“I felt the affection in the stadium where I was born, the stadium where I grew up. It came to me when I was in the stands, and I said, ‘I want to be on the field, and I want to play here in this stadium.’
“If they had asked me to make a script a couple of years ago, I don’t think it would have turned out better than it did tonight. It was wonderful. It was perfect.”
Final Group A table
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 9 |
| 2 | South Africa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 | South Korea | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
13 spots filled, 20 to go
So after the first day of the final matchweek, we have 13 of the 32 knockout-round spots occupied. Six nations have already won their groups. The only Round-of-32 match that’s certain is Canada vs. South Africa.
The United States will almost certainly face off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round-of-32, who clinched the very first third-place berth.
245 of the remaining 246 third-place permutations have the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina squaring off against one another.
- Canada
- Switzerland*
- Mexico*
- South Africa
- United States*
- Germany*
- Argentina*
- France
- Norway
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Colombia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
