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South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0 this Wednesday at the and made history: for the first time in their history, the Bafana Bafana have advanced past the group stage of a World Cup.
The only goal of the match came in the 63rd minute, scored by Thapelo Maseko, a 22-year-old forward who plays for AEL Limassol in Cyprus.
Maseko scored just one minute after the first South African substitution, when Moremi came on for Appollis in the 62nd minute. The scorer himself was replaced in the 75th minute after fulfilling his mission.
South Korea tried to respond from the start of the second half with three simultaneous substitutions at the 46th minute, including the entry of Son Heung-Min, but the Asian team failed to threaten the opposing goal with enough danger.
The statistics reflect the paradox of the match: South Korea dominated possession with 69% compared to South Africa's 31%, but the Africans were more decisive with 13 shots to their opponent's seven, and four on target as opposed to just two.
Both teams ended with a yellow card: Modiba (South Africa, 73') and Cho Gue-Sung (South Korea, 79').
With this result, the is completely defined. Mexico led with a perfect nine points after simultaneously defeating Czech Republic 3-0 at the Estadio Azteca, a win that also secured their spot in the round of 16.
South Africa finished second with four points, resulting from one victory, one draw, and one defeat. Their journey in the group included a loss to Mexico (0-2, matchday 1) and a draw with the Czech Republic (1-1, matchday 2), where Teboho Mokoena equalized from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute.
South Korea, with three points and the same goal difference as South Africa (-1), advances to the round of 32 as the best third-placed team, benefiting from the tournament's expanded format.
The Czech Republic, with just one point, was eliminated.
For South Africa, this achievement has a special significance: in its three previous World Cup appearances —France 1998, Korea-Japan 2002, and the 2010 World Cup that it hosted— it had never progressed beyond the first round. In that edition, as the host nation, it also became the first host team to be eliminated in the group stage.
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