MONTERREY, Mexico – South Africa reached the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time in their history after rescuing their campaign with an exhilarating 1-0 victory over South Korea at Estadio Monterrey.The win seals the first fully known matchup of the knockout stage: South Africa against Canada.Having entered the night at the foot of Group A, Bafana Bafana surged into second place in Group A thanks to Thapelo Maseko’s 63rd minute winner.After South Korea made the surprise decision to leave Son Heung-min on the bench for the first half, Maseko’s strike meant South Africa will now take on co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles in the Round of 32.The Koreans, meanwhile, must wait to see what happens to their knockout round prospects after defeats in back-to-back games pushed them into third place. According to The Athletic’s prediction tool, there is a 89 percent chance they will take on the first place team from Group G, currently led by Egypt.Why was Son Heung-min benched? It arrived as a shock before kick-off.Such is the ever-presence of Son for South Korea, at first it looked like it might be a mistake on the teamsheet. The 33-year-old is his country’s all-time top appearance maker with 146 caps, their second top scorer (just two off Cha Bum-kum’s 58), captain and by far their most recognisable name. ‘Heung-min 7’ was by far the most visible shirt around the concourses and outside Estadio Monterrey in the hours leading up to the game.But Hong Myung-bo really had benched Son, apparently by tactical decision (he had shown no signs of injury in the previous game and came out to warm up to huge cheers).It was a bold call to make given South Korea still had much to play for on Group A’s final night. The LAFC forward has not had an easy time of it this calendar year — he has yet to score this Major League Soccer (MLS) season in 13 appearances and his last World Cup goal came in 2018. There have been suggestions he is being played out of position at centre-forward when he would thrive more at left-wing or in attacking midfield.Perhaps Hong intended to give his team a jolt and try something different after a narrow win against the Czech Republic and a drab loss to Mexico. Either way, it raised the stakes even higher for his side.Son Heung-min remained on the bench throughout the first half. (Julian Finney / FIFA via Getty Images)How South Africa gave South Korea a wake-up call in first halfOn paper, it felt as if the difference in talent would show pretty early on at Estadio Monterrey. South Korea have stars playing across the world’s top leagues; only seven of South Africa’s 26-man squad play outside of that country.But against the odds, Hugo Broos’ team caused their East Asian counterparts plenty of problems in the first half. After Lee Kang-in dashed onto a ball in the seventh minute and sent a left-footed effort just wide, it was all South African efforts on goal.