Korea stuck awaiting fate after falling to South Africa

South Africa's Aubrey Modiba celebrates with his teammate South Africa's Samukelo Kabini after the World Cup Group A soccer match between South Africa and Korea in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday (local time). AP-Yonhap

GUADALUPE, Mexico — Once in the driver's seat to advance to the knockout round at the FIFA World Cup, Koreans now find themselves at the mercy of other teams.

This abrupt turn of fortune is self-inflicted, as world No. 25 Korea lost to 60th-ranked underdog South Africa 1-0 in their final Group A match Wednesday at Estadio Monterrey in Guadalupe, northeastern Mexico. Thapelo Maseko was the lone goal scorer, as South Africa advanced to the knockouts for the first time.

With a combination of their loss and a Mexico victory over Czechia, Korea finished third in their group with three points. The Taegeuk Warriors opened the competition with a 2-1 win over Czechia on June 11 but then lost to Mexico 1-0 last Thursday.

Mexico clinched the top spot in Group A with that victory, and Korea had a chance to join them in the knockouts as the Group A runner-up with a win or a draw against South Africa — regardless of the outcome in the Mexico-Czechia match.

However, Korea blew the opportunity and they must now wait a few days to see how the remaining group matches will play out.

With this year's tournament featuring 48 nations, up from the previous 32, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups earn automatic spots in the knockouts, along with the eight best third-place teams.

With Groups A, B and C having completed their play, Korea are fourth among third-place teams. The group stage will conclude Saturday with teams in Groups J, K and L in action across the United States. The goal difference is the first tiebreaker, followed by goals scored.

Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third in Group B earlier Wednesday with four points. Among teams that have completed their group play, Korea and Scotland are the two third-place teams with three points apiece.

With one match to go, Sweden, Croatia, Algeria and Paraguay each have three points, while Cape Verde and Belgium each have two points.

If Korea progress to the knockouts as the third seed out of Group A, they will either play Germany, the Group E winner, at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, at noon Monday (1 a.m. Tuesday in Korea), or face the Group G winner at Seattle Stadium in Seattle at 1 p.m. Wednesday (5 a.m. Thursday in Korea)

After two matches, Egypt lead Group G with four points, with Iran (two points), Belgium (two points) and New Zealand (one point) behind them. All but New Zealand have a chance to win the group. They will close out their group stage action Friday.

Korea are hoping to reach the knockouts for the fourth time in 12 tries. They advanced to the semifinals in 2002 as a co-host, and made it to the round of 16 in 2010 in South Africa and again in 2022 in Qatar.