South Korea, seeking to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, finished the first half scoreless in its final group-stage match against South Africa.
The South Korean national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, was tied 0-0 at halftime in the third Group A match against South Africa, held at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on Thursday Korea time.
Korea struggled somewhat, trailing 4-9 in shots and 0-3 in shots on target during the first half. However, a draw alone would secure Korea second place in the group and advance the team to the round of 32.
Hong made a bold change for the match. He benched captain Son Heung-min (LAFC), who had failed to score in the previous two matches. It marked the first time Son had been left out of the starting lineup at a World Cup finals since his debut at the 2014 Brazil tournament. Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) was also placed on the substitutes' list.
Korea seized the initiative early with attacks using the flanks. In the second minute, Kim Min-jae connected with a header off a corner kick from Lee Kang-in, but it was blocked by the defensive wall. In the 10th minute, Lee Kang-in's left-footed shot off a pass from Lee Tae-seok went wide of the goal.
But after the middle of the first half, the momentum shifted to South Africa. In the 19th minute, Tapelo Maseko found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper on a counterattack but was stopped by a tackle from Lee Ki-hyuk.
Korea brought trouble on itself with a midfield passing error in the 30th minute. Kim Seung-gyu dove to block a long-range shot from Talente Mbatha, then made another save on a close-range shot from Evidence Makgopa that followed. In the 39th minute, Maseko's powerful long-range shot also went wide, and Korea finished the first half without conceding.
Korea, ranked 24th in the FIFA rankings, is also seeking to overcome its disadvantage against African teams at the World Cup finals against 60th-ranked South Africa. Korea sits second in Group A after defeating the Czech Republic 2-1 and losing 0-1 to host nation Mexico in the earlier group-stage matches.
