South Korea vs South Africa
The Round of 32 beckons for the teams of Group A, and the business will be settled on Wednesday night when World Cup 2026: South Africa vs South Korea is the entertainment on offer at the Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe, Mexico.
Hong Myung Bo’s Koreans have three points in the bag and are within touching distance of joining leaders Mexico in the knockout phase while, with one point from two games Hugo Broos’ South Africa desperately needs a win.
The Bafana Bafana are the lowest ranked nation in the group, and they are up against a South Korea side with plenty of skill, pace and fight. And the Taegeuk Warriors will be keen to take their frustration of an unnecessary loss to Mexico out on the South Africans.
Talking Points
Korea kicking themselves
The Taegeuk Warriors could quite easily have already been packing their bags for the knockout phase after beating the Czech Republic in their opener and then matching Mexico for much of their game against the co-hosts. Bo’s men had more possession and more shots, though El Tri were more ruthless in front of goal. And it was a costly error which lost Korea a point against the Mexicans, which enabled the hosts to become the first nation to make the Round of 32. The normally reliable Seung-Gyu Kim dropped a header from Raul Jimenez into the path of Luis Romo, and he gleefully chipped the ball over Kim and into the net.
At the other end of the pitch a double save from Mexico’s Raul Rangel denied Gue-Sung Cho and the game was up. Korea lost the match through no lack of fight, but a momentary loss of concentration; and that will hurt after the Warriors fought back brilliantly to beat the Czech Republic in their opener, In-Beom Hwang and Hyeon-Gyu Oh scoring second half goals.
Former Tottenham Hotspur ace Heung-Min Son and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in are yet to show their brilliant best, but they will back themselves to open up the South African defence on Tuesday night.
Bafana Bafana showed fight to stay in the hunt
Losing the World Cup showcase opener to hosts Mexico was no surprise as El Tri have an incredible record on home soil, but South Africa showed little resistance to the Mexicans, though keeper Ronwen Williams certainly did his best. I admit I expected the Bafana Bafana to lose to the Czech Republic in their second match and it looked that way when Michal Sadilek gave the Europeans an early lead which they held until midfield ace Teboho Mokoena levelled on 83 minutes with a superbly taken penalty.
It was a huge result for the Bafana Bafana players who were gifted jewellery valued at over $50k, each through the team’s partnership with Icebox, the luxury diamond and gold business.
Back on the pitch 34 year old Captain Williams has made plenty of new fans with his brave goalkeeping displays and he is sure to feature heavily again in the South Africa vs South Korea highlights, as the Bafana Bafana try to pull off a shock win to keep their tournament alive.
But goal hero Mokoena is the man hoping to stretch the Korean defence and upset the South Africa vs South Korea betting odds. The fans’ favourite is a mainstay in midfield, often sitting deep and dictating the pace of play but, as he showed last week, his distribution is superb and he can pop up with a crucial goal. Mokoena will try to find striker Lyle Foster when the Bafana Bafana have the ball and then it is down to the Burnley man to do the rest.
History
This is South Korea’s 12th appearance at a World Cup finals and they are yet to match their semi-final achievement on home soil back in 2002. South Africa have been at three previous finals, in 1998, 2002 and 2010 and are yet to escape the group stage.
Until the loss to Mexico Korea’s form was good with three consecutive wins, over Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, South Africa picked up a friendly win over Jamaica in June but have drawn two and lost one over their last four games.
Betting Tip
The Bafana Bafana are out at SBOTOP odds of 5.50 to get the win they need and they can draw inspiration from the likes of Cape Verde who have upset longer odds. But with the draw priced at 3.75 and the Warriors at 1.60 to win the South Africans are up against it. For a correct scoreline I think 2-0 to South Korea, at odds of 7.00 will be near the mark.
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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