2026 World Cup: South Africa vs. South Korea, Probable Lineups

The BBVA Stadium in Guadalupe, home of Monterrey, will host the match between South Africa and South Korea at 3 a.m. Italian time on the night between Wednesday and Thursday (7 p.m. on Wednesday, local time), as part of the final matchday of Group A. The match will be played simultaneously with the Czech Republic vs. Mexico game and will be decisive for the final standings, with Mexico already through to the Round of 16 and the other three teams still in contention to advance.

The Bafana Bafana have not particularly impressed in the first two matchdays: defeated 2-0 by Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup, they did manage to snatch a point from the Czech Republic, equalizing with a late penalty by Mokoena to cancel out Sadilek’s early goal. However, a win is needed to keep their hopes alive: Mokoena, who is suspended after receiving yellow cards in both previous matches, and Zwane, who still has one match left on his suspension, will not be able to contribute.

On the other hand, South Korea got off to a very good start, coming from behind to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 with goals from Hwang In-Beom and Oh Hyeon-Gyu, but they stumbled in their next match, suffering a 1-0 loss to Mexico that has put the Asian Tigers’ qualification in jeopardy. Cho Yu-min will be out due to injury, but there is only one goal: to win to avoid potentially dangerous calculations.

Probable lineups

SOUTH AFRICA (4-3-3): Williams; Mudau, Okon, Mbokazi, Modiba; Mbatha, Sithole, Adams; Maseko, Rayners, Appollis. Head Coach: Broos.

SOUTH KOREA (3-4-2-1): Kim Seung-gyu; Lee Han-beom, Kim Min-jae, Lee Gi-hyuk; Kim Moon-hwan, Hwang In-beom, Paik Seung-ho, Seol Young-woo; Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung; Son Heung-min. Head Coach: Hong Myung-bo.