[2026 World Cup] South Africa Coach Broos: "Korea Match Will Be Tough... Outstanding Discipline and Work Rate"

Hugo Broos, head coach of South Africa, who will face the Korean national football team in the final group stage match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, described Korea as a disciplined team with high work rate, predicting a challenging match.

At the press conference held after the Group A second round match against the Czech Republic at the Atlanta Stadium in the United States on June 19 (Korean time), Broos commented, “Korea is a team somewhere between Mexico and the Czech Republic. They are extremely well-disciplined, which is also characteristic of East Asian teams.”

Hugo Boss, director of South Africa. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Under Broos’s leadership, South Africa drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic that day. After losing 0-2 to Mexico in the opening match, South Africa earned their first point of the tournament by converting a penalty kick awarded for a handball foul by the opponent in the second half.

Keeping their hopes of advancing past the group stage alive, South Africa will play their final group match against Korea on June 25 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Broos predicted, “It will be another tough match against Korea,” and added, “While we struggled physically against the Czech Republic, against Korea, we will have to deal with their organizational discipline and high work rate.” He continued, “Korean players run for the entire 90 minutes as if they have batteries in them, which makes them a difficult team to face.”

He said, “Korea has several good and key players,” but when asked to name the most threatening player, he replied, “I don’t talk publicly about opposing players. The Korean coach might hear as well, don’t you think?” thus refraining from giving a specific answer.

Broos expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance that day. He said, “Except for a brief lapse in concentration at the start, it was a very good match. We dominated play in the Czech half throughout the second half. I believe we should have achieved a better result,” and emphasized, “If we can maintain this level of performance, we will have every chance to advance to the next round.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.