South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday to reach the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time in their history.
Bafana Bafana, playing at the tournament for the first time since they hosted it in 2010, were widely written off after their dismal 2-0 loss to Group A winners Mexico on the first day of the tournament.
But they battled to a draw with the Czech Republic and then edged what was effectively a shootout with South Korea for second place in Monterrey, thanks to Thapelo Maseko’s second-half strike.
South Africa will now face co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles on 28 June.
Mexico topped the group with nine points after winning all three of their matches.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup expanding to a 48-team format, the group stage ends with the top two teams from all 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed sides, going through to a new Round of 32 knockout bracket.
As the final round of group games plays out, 13 teams have officially booked their spots in the knockout stage.
Mexico went through as Group A winners, with South Africa taking the runners-up spot. Switzerland won Group B ahead of Canada. Brazil topped Group C, followed by Morocco, while the USA won Group D. Germany won Group E, Argentina took Group J, and France, Norway and Colombia have also gone through.
Teams already knocked out of the World Cup include Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Panama, Qatar and the Czech Republic.
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