South Korea Loses 1-0 to South Africa in 2026 World Cup Group Match

South Korea lost 1-0 to South Africa on Wednesday in their final Group A match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Guadalupe, Mexico. The match stayed scoreless through halftime. South Africa scored the only goal in the 63rd minute and held on to secure its first-ever appearance in the knockout round.

South Korea finished third in the group. The team now waits to determine whether its results rank among the eight best third-place sides that advance. Son Heung-min began the match on the bench for the first time in his international career that started in 2010 and entered at the start of the second half.

"It's so frustrating that the match didn't go the way we wanted it to, and we as players are obviously very disappointed," Son said. " Son had started each of his previous 12 World Cup matches dating back to the 2014 tournament. The national team coach informed Son before the match that he would not start.

Son said he tried to keep instructions simple and offer the best help he could from his perspective during the first-half break. "I think we have to consider the big picture and figure out where things went wrong," he said. " "I personally didn't want to end up in this kind of situation, where we have to wait and see if we will reach the knockouts," Son said.

"But it's out of our hands now and we will have to accept our fate, whatever it will be," he added.