South Africa’s stirring upset books Canada showdown, South Korea bench Son Heung-min and left stunned

MONTERREY, Mexico – South Africa reached the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time after rescuing their campaign with an exhilarating 1-0 victory over South Korea at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

Having entered the night at the foot of Group A, Bafana Bafana surged into second place in Group A thanks to Thapelo Maseko’s 63rd-minute winner.

After South Korea made the surprise decision to leave Son Heung-min on the bench for the first half, Maseko’s strike meant South Africa will now take on co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles in the Round of 32, the first fully known matchup of the knockout stage.

South Korean must wait to see what happens to their knockout-round prospects after back-to-back defeats pushed them into third place. According to The Athletic’s prediction tool, there is an 89 percent chance they will take on the first-place team from Group G, currently led by Egypt.

Why was Son benched? 

It arrived as a shock before kick-off.

Such is the ever-present Son for South Korea; at first, it looked like a mistake on the teamsheet. The 33-year-old is his country’s all-time top appearance maker with 146 caps, their second top scorer (just two off Cha Bum-kun’s 58), captain and by far their most recognisable name. ‘Heung-min 7’ was by far the most visible shirt around the concourses and outside Estadio BBVA in the hours leading up to the game.

But Hong Myung-bo really had benched Son, apparently by tactical decision (he had shown no signs of injury in the previous game and came out to warm up to huge cheers).

It was a bold call, given South Korea still had much to play for on Group A’s final night. The LAFC forward has not had an easy time of it this calendar year — he is yet to score this Major League Soccer (MLS) season in 13 appearances and his last World Cup goal came in 2018. There have been suggestions he is being played out of position at centre-forward when he would thrive more at left-wing or in attacking midfield.

Perhaps Hong intended to give his team a jolt and try something different after a narrow win against the Czech Republic and a drab defeat by Mexico. Either way, it raised the stakes even higher.

How South Africa gave South Korea a first-half wake-up call

On paper, it felt as if the difference in talent would show pretty early on. South Korea have stars playing across the world’s top leagues; only seven of South Africa’s 26-man squad play outside of that country.

But against the odds, Hugo Broos’ team caused their East Asian counterparts plenty of problems in the first half. After Lee Kang-in dashed onto a ball in the seventh minute and sent a left-footed effort just wide, it was all South African efforts on goal.

Maseko appeared to be given endless chances to run into space. He forced a fine block from Lee Gi-hyuk in the 19th minute, who instantly rose to his feet and pointed to his head to tell his team-mates to concentrate — but it seemed they did not listen.

Perhaps the closest South Africa came to opening the scoring was in the 30th minute, as Maseko burst through yet again, the ball fell to Thalente Mbatha and he produced a strong save from Kim Seung-gyu. That rebounded to Evidence Makgopa, who fired straight at the goalkeeper from close range — albeit he may have been offside.

Regardless, it felt like a wake-up call for South Korea and made it three shots on target for South Africa, none for Hong’s side. They only needed a point to progress in second place, but they were making hard work of it. Widespread boos at half-time showed that. And it would soon get even worse.

Maseko takes advantage of raucous atmosphere… for Mexico 

You are unlikely to see many World Cup goals scored in stranger circumstances.

When news filtered through of Mexico’s opening goal in Mexico City, the fans inside Estadio BBVA went wild. Huge pockets of locals wearing El Tri shirts jumped up and down and the South Koreans celebrated, too — not only is there a special friendship between the countries stretching back to the 2018 World Cup, but it also made their task of qualifying in second easier. A replay of Mateo Chavez’s finish was even shown on the big screen after an airport-style announcement noise.

The second goal in the Mexican capital, complete with that sound effect, led to more scenes of celebration among the home faithful and South Koreans. But in that delirium, Maseko took full advantage. His touch to bring the ball onto his left foot and fire past Kim stunned South Korea and sparked joy among Maseko and his team-mates by the corner flag. Chants of “Mexico, Mexico” became “Korea, Korea” from the Mexicans in attendance and then “Si se puede” (yes, we can).

It would be a stretch to say South Korea conceding was influenced in some way by those unusual scenes, but it certainly didn’t seem to help. Suddenly, they were third in the table and in need of a goal to secure second place.

South Korea’s Lee Gi-hyuk and South Africa forward Evidence Makgopa fight for the ball. (Yuri Cortez / AFP via Getty Images)

What can Canada expect in the Round of 32? 

It is hard to emphasise just how unexpected this result was.

South Africa arrived at the stadium dancing, as they tend to do — but that also seemed to reflect something deeper here. A first qualification to the World Cup knockouts would be a huge bonus against a talented South Korea side. For South Korea, finishing second and reaching the Round of 32 was an obligation.

The pressure was off Broos’ side, but they could have scored a couple in the first half. Maseko’s effort was just reward for a performance that had put the South Koreans under pressure from the off.

So now Canada will face South Africa in the first knockout stage in Los Angeles, and it’s fair to say South Africa is an unknown quantity. They struggled in the Estadio Azteca opener against Mexico and rescued a late point against the Czech Republic, but this was their best performance yet.

They were disciplined and determined and posed a significant threat on the counter. They will also be helped by having their talismanic midfielder, Teboho Mokoena, back for that game at SoFi Stadium following his yellow-card suspension, a player who could dictate the tempo if allowed.

The truth is, Jesse Marsch’s side won’t know what to expect, as few saw this coming from South Africa. But they had a plan and stuck to it rigidly to topple South Korea. The tournament co-hosts are unlikely to faze them.