Emotional Bafana Bafana midfielder Thapelo Maseko expressed his excitement after a massive win against South Korea in their last group stages match.
Bafana Bafana advanced to the last 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. Hugo Broos’ side didn’t start the tournament well after suffering a 2-0 defeat against the co-costs Mexico. The defeat left the whole country not happy with the squad selection and the performance from the players.
Broos’ troops picked up in the second game by getting a 1-1 draw against Czechia after Maseko created a penalty and Teboho Mokoena stepped up to score it. The draw kept the hopes of advancing to the next round alive.
Going into the last game against South Korea, it was all or nothing as the 1996 AFCON winners came out guns blazing, showing no respect to South Korea and managed to get a massive 1-0 win which sent them to the RO32.
Maseko, who has had a difficult season at Mamelodi Sundowns before he was loaned out to Cyprus side AEL Limassol, stated that this win was for everyone even those who never gave Bafana a chance.
“It’s unbelievable, it seems like a dream. But credit to all the gents, credit to everyone today, to the fans they gave it all,” Maseko told SuperSport TV.
“This win is for those who supported us and for those actually who didn’t support us too. Because they said we 7% chance of getting out of the group and yet here we are.
“So we thankful to everyone, the support back home from South Africans and we keep going.”
Against All Odds (And Memes)…
Maseko also hailed the spirit of the team after they received a lot of backlash following the opening round defeat to Mexico.
“We’ve through a couple of rough patches,” he added.
“From the first game, the media was bashing us, we were all over the media. The memes were trending but this team showed that they are capable and strong, and they’ve got some mentality in them.”
