Hugo Broos braced for tough South Korea test in must-win clash

24.06.26 FT World Cup

South Africa

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Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos is braced for a tough encounter against South Korea in matchday three of their 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage campaign.

South Africa will do battle with the Asians at the Monterrey Stadium, Guadalupe in Mexico on Thursday, in what will be a must-win match for a place in the knockout stage.

Bafana are rooted at the bottom of Group A standings with one point, while Korea are in second place with three points, setting up a nervy ending for Broos and his troops.

With the high-stakes match looming, the Belgian mentor is not expecting it to be a walk in the park, stressing Korea's relentless stamina and discipline as key factors.

“South Korea is a little bit between Mexico and Czechia, it's a very disciplined team, and this is the characteristics of the Eastern teams, they are always very disciplined. And you see it also in the game they played against Czechia,” said Broos.

"There are also good players, a few key players in the team, so again, it will be a tough game, but in another way. Today [vs Czechia] was a tough game because of the physicality of Czechia.

"It will be more discipline in the group against South Korea. Also, they run, I'm very sorry that I use this expression but it's like Duracell [batteries], you plug them in and they start running, and they run 90 minutes, so it will not be easy.

Whether Broos can guide South Africa to the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history remains to be seen, ahead of the final group stage match.

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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