South Africa Beat South Korea to Advance. Their Captain Says the Doubters Fueled It.

South Africa just pulled off something nobody expected. Not even their own goalkeeper, apparently.

Hugo Broos’s team knocked off Son Heung-Min and Korea Republic 1-0 on Wednesday, clinching a knockout stage spot for the first time in the program’s history. For a nation mostly remembered internationally for hosting the 2010 World Cup, blasting vuvuzelas, and that Siphiwe Tshabalala goal against Mexico, this felt like a fever dream. A real one.

Group A was supposed to be a formality for South Korea. Instead, South Africa found a way after losing their opener to Mexico and grinding out a 1-1 draw with Czechia. That set up a winner-take-all final match. And in the 63rd minute, 22-year-old Thapelo Maseko delivered the only goal of the night.

Ronwen Williams didn’t hold back

The 34-year-old Mamelodi Sundowns keeper spoke with FOX Soccer after the match, and he wasn’t shy about what drove the team over the line.

“Lost for words. Proud, is an understatement,” Williams said. “The amount of pressure that this team is under, not only on the field but off the field. And for the players to show up today, when our backs were against the wall, and when I saw the publications posting potential teams to go out of the group, and we had no percentage, you know, that fueled something inside of us…that everyone was against us.”

He kept going. “We will use that as motivation, as energy…to fight. And, I mean, the fight that the guys showed today? Amazing.”

Look, it’s not hard to see why the outside world wrote them off. South Africa hasn’t exactly been a powerhouse on the global stage. They barely get mentioned in World Cup conversations. But apparently that noise gets piped directly into the locker room.

Now comes Canada

South Africa will face Canada on Sunday. The Canadians topped Group B ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina and gave Switzerland real trouble in their final group match. And they did it without Alphonso Davies, which feels like a dangerous sign for any opponent.

But Williams and his guys aren’t done. They’ve got nothing to lose. They’ve already done the thing nobody thought they could do.

So what’s next? A Round of 32 matchup that suddenly feels a lot less one-sided than it looked on paper a week ago.

Check back Sunday.