Analysing South Korea, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos pointed out an important factor that their key players are vastly experienced and turn out for top teams in Europe. And he was correct. The defence of the team South Africa meet in a must-win final 2026 World Cup Group A game at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico on Wednesday (7pm local time, 3am on Thursday in SA) is marshaled by veteran Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, who is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the German Bundesliga. He operates alongside Lee Han-Beom of Midtjylland in Denmark. In the midfield, the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ have Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, Hwang Inbeom of Feyenoord Rotterdam, Lee Jae-Sung of Mainz and Seol Young-Woo of Crvena Zvezda. For much-needed goals, South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo relies heavily on Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wandersr and hugely experienced 33-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min who plays for Los Angeles FC. Other important players based in Asia include Kim Seung-Gyu of FC Tokyo, Lee Gi-Hyuk of Gangwon and Kim Moon-Hwan of Daejeon. Among their key traits is they function excellently as a well-drilled team. “They have key players in the team [who play for top teams around the world] and it is going to be a tough game,” Broos admitted. After the draw with Czechia, Broos admitted it will be far from easy for his team easy against the South Koreans, who he cheekily quipped run like they have been powered by Duracell batteries.The Koreans beat Czechia 2-1 in their opening game and lost 1-0 to Mexico in their second clash. Bafana lost 2-0 to Mexico then drew 1-1 against the Czechs on Thursday.“South Korea is different from Mexico and Czechia, they are a disciplined team,” Broos said. “It is the characteristics of Asian teams that they are always disciplined and you saw that in the game they played against Czechia. “It was tough for us against Czechia because of their physicality and it is going to be more about the discipline against South Korea because they can run. “I am sorry to say this but it’s like Duracell battery, you plug in and they start running for 90 minutes.” Bafana will have to do without influential midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who is suspended but his unavailability is softened by the return of Sphephelo Sithole, who missed the draw with Czechia suspended from his red card against Mexico. Portugal-based Sithole, if he is picked, has much to prove after an all-round poor day in the office in the opener. Central midfield is the area where Broos has a tough decision to make as to whether to bring Sithole back into the starting line-up to play with Jayden Adams or Thalente Mbatha. Broos started the last match with a three-man midfield of Adams, Mokoena and Mbatha against Czechia and it worked as they managed to nullify the Europeans’ aggression. South Africa went a goal down early and Broos made changes at the beginning of the second half by pulling out Adams and introducing attack-minded Relebohile Mofokeng, who impressed on his World Cup debut, along with also lively Evidence Makgopa and Kamogelo Sebelebele. There is a heated discussion as to whether Broos should be brave and start with defensive midfielders Adams and Mbatha and playmaker Mofokeng in his midfield. The other tough decision for coach Broos is who to start up-front between Lyle Foster, Rayners and Makgopa in search of the much-needed goals to take this team into the next round. Rayners’ and Makgopa’s running was sharp leading the line against Czechia, while Foster has looked out of touch for months but has the quality to be a threat. All the World Cup fixtures hereWorld Cup page hereAll the group profiles hereStar player profiles hereBafana news hereTimesLIVE