Bafana Bafana knew what to expect from South Korea, thanks to the meticulous planning by the technical and analysis team. Speaking after South Africa beat the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ 1-0 at Estadio Monterrey Stadium on Wednesday (early hours of Thursday in SA) to finish second in the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s Group A, Broos said they planned to counter a team speed that would try to put the ball behind Bafana’s defence. Bafana turn attention to the last 32 where they are up against co-hosts Canada at Los Angeles Stadium on Sunday (9pm SA time) where Broos said the South Africans want to keep on marching. “It is always important when you have good analysts who can analyse the opposing team,” said the 74-year-old Belgian, who has entrenched his hero status among most South Africans making history steering Bafana to their first World Cup knockout stage at the fourth time of asking.“I saw a South Korea team that I expected with speed, that runs a lot, tries to find the space behind the defence and we knew that. “But we also knew that we could recover the ball when we had space and that’s why we played a very good tactical game. When the Koreans had the ball, we tried to cover all the spaces and we succeeded. “When we had the ball, it was dangerous for them because we used the spaces they gave us. We have quick players who can find those spaces and we had a player like Relebohile Mofokeng today who can give those passes and play between the lines. “This is the reason we won today against South Korea. Towards the end of the game, they were desperate at 1-0 down and they needed a draw to qualify for the next round. “We also knew those balls would come and we took very good positions and there was nearly no dangerous opportunity from South Korea. I think we were a little better tactically than South Korea.” Broos’ highlights as a coach include league titles in Belgium, winning the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Cameroon in 2017 with an unfancied squad and taking South Africa to the bronze medal in 2024. Broos, who retires from coaching after this tournament, said steering Bafana into the knockout stage for the first time in the country where he ended his career as a player at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico is up there with his best achievements. “When people ask you what the biggest achievement of your career is, it is very difficult after you won Afcon with Cameroon, you have a bronze medal with South Africa, you won championships in Belgium and you have European Cups. “This is one of the highest achievements but winning Afcon is also a great achievement. Don’t ask me which one is first or second, there are all magnificent for me as a coach. “When I look back at my career, I think many people, players or coaches, will be a little bit jealous of what I have achieved.” All the World Cup fixtures hereWorld Cup page hereAll the group profiles hereStar player profiles hereBafana news hereTimesLIVE