Bafana Bafana midfielder Jayden Adams has issued a rallying call to his teammates to rise to the occasion and make history by getting out of the group stages of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. South Africa have been to Fifa World Cups — in France in 1998, South Korea and Japan in 2002 and on home soil in 2010 — and on all those occasions they failed to progress to the next round. They have an opportunity to break new ground on Wednesday (7pm in Mexico; Thursday 3am, SA time) because a win over South Korea in Monterrey will leave South Africa with the chance to advance automatically to knockout stage, and if not, should see them through as one of eight best third-placed finishers in the 12 groups. The ideal situation is for Bafana to get a win over the resilient ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ and hope co-hosts Mexico, who have already qualified for the last 32, beat Czechia at Estadio Azteca. Bafana will be without suspended midfield kingpin Teboho Mokoena. Mamelodi Sundowns midfield teammate Adams said South Africa must do it for Mokoena because it was his late penalty against Czechia that kept their tournament hopes alive. “It is going to be a tough match for us [without Mokoena] but at this level you have to man up. It is for me and Thalente [Mbatha] to step and do the job for him because he did it for us against Czechia,” he said. South Korea present a different prospect from ball-playing Mexico and physical Czechia. The Asians are known for tactical discipline when defending, ahigh work rate and breathtaking pace in transition. Adams is confident Bafana can hold their own. “We are confident of progressing to the knockout stage, especially after that result and good performance against Czechia. The boys are ready and focused on the job at hand.” In the hard-fought draw against Czechia, Adams was pulled off at half time and replaced by Relebohile Mofokeng as coach Hugo Broos tweaked the approach. “The coach made the decision to take me out but the boys who continued with the game in the second half did well. They fought and the energy was good and it was a great substitution by the coach to bring on Rele [Mofokeng].” At a personal level, Adams is in his second coming for the senior national team after he missed out on the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco in January and December and he is making up for lost time. He came back strong with commendable performances in the second half of the domestic campaign and helped Sundowns win the Champions League with their final victory against AS FAR of Morocco in May. The plan is to make my family and the nation proud. The experience here at the World Cup has been good and I am looking forward to the next game. We just need to focus on ourselves— Jayden Adams“Not making the Afcon squad last year disappointed me. I took time to go home to reflect and when I came back, I continued to give my all. “I am happy with the level I am playing at the moment but I believe I can do better.” Playing at the World Cup is everyone’s dream. Adams is enjoying the experience. “The plan is to make my family and the nation proud. The experience here at the World Cup has been good and I am looking forward to the next game. We just need to focus on ourselves.” “To be honest [I didn’t expect things to happen too quickly]. But as you grow up, you want to play at a bigger stage. It is the right time and my performances have been good so far.” TimesLIVE