South Africa pulled off a sensational victory over South Korea to reach the 2026 World Cup play-offs for the first time
The South African national team secured a sensational victory over South Korea in their third-round Group A match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The match at the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico, ended in a narrow 1–0 victory for the African side.
Before the match, the South Africans were considered underdogs, but the team managed to seize their opportunity and achieve a historic result.
The only goal of the match was scored in the 63rd minute. Tapelo Maseko was the scorer of the decisive goal.
In the other Group A match, Mexico comfortably beat the Czech Republic 3–0.
At the end of the group stage, Mexico had secured the maximum 9 points and qualified for the knockout stages in first place. South Africa finished second with 4 points and reached the World Cup round of 32 for the first time in their history.
South Korea finished the group stage in third place with 3 points and still have a chance of reaching the knockout stages if they are among the eight best third-placed teams. The Czech Republic ended their campaign with 1 point.
One of the round of 16 pairings has also been decided. In the first round of the play-offs, Canada will face South Africa. The match is scheduled for 28 June at 22:00 Kyiv time.
The 2026 World Cup is being held in the USA, Mexico and Canada from 11 June to 19 July. This is the first World Cup in history to feature 48 teams. The teams are divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group, along with the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the round of 16.
