{"id":34325,"date":"2026-06-19T00:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T00:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/south-korea-2026-world-cup-clinching-scenarios-how-they-make-knockout-round\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T00:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T00:47:27","slug":"south-korea-2026-world-cup-clinching-scenarios-how-they-make-knockout-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/south-korea-2026-world-cup-clinching-scenarios-how-they-make-knockout-round\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea 2026 World Cup clinching scenarios, how they make knockout round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>June 18, 2026, 2:46 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__bv\"\/>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__bvd gnt_x__h\"\/>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - World Cup brings heartfelt moment as Awer Mabil thanks commentator\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/soccer\/worldcup\/2026\/06\/18\/south-korea-starting-lineup-vs-mexico-world-cup\/90600381007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">South Korea<\/a> is on the verge of being the first team to advance to the knockout round of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/sports\/soccer\/world-cup\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">2026 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The second round of games in group play are in full swing, and the winner of Group A can already be determined Thursday, June 18. South Korea got its tournament off to a great start in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/soccer\/worldcup\/2026\/06\/11\/south-korea-czechia-world-cup-live-updates-score-watch\/90515129007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">a thrilling comeback win against Czechia<\/a>. The three points were huge, and it set up a great opportunity for when it plays Mexico at Guadalajara Stadium \u2014 South Korea can win the group and clinch its spot in the knockout rounds for the second consecutive World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Here is what South Korea needs to advance to the World Cup knockout round:<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/sports\/soccer\/worldcup\/2026\/06\/13\/world-cup-2026-best-photos\/90528304007\/\" data-t-l=\"\u2691g:l|l|c|view gallery:inline promo\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - Photos reveal unforgettable World Cup action and emotion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/06\/18\/USAT\/90615479007-2282273341.jpg?crop=4447,2503,x0,y231&amp;width=660&amp;height=372&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" data-gl-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/06\/18\/USAT\/90615479007-2282273341.jpg?crop=4447,https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/2503,https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/x0,https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/y231&amp;width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\"\/><svg class=\"gnt_em_gl_i_svg\"><use xlink:href=\"#gnt_svg_camera\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_mt\">South Korea advance scenarios<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">It all started with the first match of the day on Thursday between\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/soccer\/worldcup\/2026\/06\/18\/czechia-south-africa-world-cup-score-live-highlights-channel--live\/90598043007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">South Africa vs. Czechia<\/a>. South Korea needed Czechia to win or draw, and it got one of the results when it ended in a 1-1 tie.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp\">NEWSLETTER: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":body nav (wc-nl)|e|auto spike click:6|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.usatoday.com\/newsletters\/world-cup-extra-time\/\">Sign up to get all the World Cup highlights in your inbox<\/a><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Now, all South Korea needs to do is beat Mexico. If South Korea wins, it will win Group A, advance to the knockout round and play in the round of 32 in Mexico City on June 30.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<ul class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul\">\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\">Czechia win or draw vs. South Africa (check!)<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\">Win vs. Mexico<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">If South Korea and Mexico draw, neither team will clinch a spot in the knockout stage, but South Korea would remain in a good spot to do so in the final Group A match against South Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">If South Korea loses, Mexico would win Group A. While it wouldn&#8217;t be able to win the group, South Korea can still feel good about its chances to advance since it would still remain in second place in the standings and have the inside track to be the runner-up in Group A.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_mt\">South Korea World Cup schedule<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul\">\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>June 11:\u00a0<\/strong>vs. Czechia (Win, 2-1)<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>June 18:\u00a0<\/strong>vs. Mexico, 9 p.m. ET, Guadalajara Stadium (Guadalajara, Mexico)<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>June 24:\u00a0<\/strong>vs. South Africa, 9 p.m. ET, Monterrey Stadium (Monterrey, Mexico)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_fo__wc-standings-carousel gnt_em__lp\" aria-label=\"World Cup Standings Carousel\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-type=\"comment\"><!--@pre<iframe class=gnt_em_fo_if src=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/tangfrag\/sports\/wc-standings-carousel\/?prm-embedded&prm-league=WC&prm-season=2026&prm-group=Group%20A\" loading=lazy sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-forms\" title=\"World Cup Standings Carousel\"><\/iframe>--><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June 18, 2026, 2:46 p.m. ET South Korea is on the verge of being the first team to advance to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_animmysite_disable_animation":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/06\/18\/USAT\/90609986007-2280503489.jpg?crop=4794,2698,x0,y325&width=3200&height=1801&format=pjpg&auto=webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[212],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}