A graphic is circulating widely across online communities.
Titled "South Korea's Scenarios for the Round of 32," it explains that South Korea could advance to the knockout stage if just three out of nine group stage scenarios play out in their favor. However, three "strikes" have already occurred.
In the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, where the number of participating countries has expanded from 32 to 48, teams that finish third in their group can still advance to the Round of 32 if they are among the top eight third-place teams across the 12 groups.
However, after South Korea lost 0-1 to South Africa in their final Group A match yesterday (June 25), falling to third place, a series of unfortunate results followed.
In the Group E match held today (June 26), Ecuador, which was in third place, pulled off a surprise victory against Germany, moving ahead of South Korea with a higher point total among third-place teams.
In Group F, Sweden, also a third-place team, drew with Japan, giving them more points than South Korea.
In Group D, Australia and Paraguay, who were tied on points with South Korea, drew their match and shared the points, leaving both teams with a higher point total than South Korea.
With third-place teams in other groups all finishing with more points than South Korea in today's matches, South Korea has dropped three spots in the rankings in just one day.
Initially, South Korea needed three out of nine scenarios to go their way to advance, but that probability has now shifted to three out of six, or 50 percent.
Looking at the rankings among the third-place teams, South Korea currently sits in 6th place out of 12 teams. If three more teams finish with higher points than South Korea, their elimination will be confirmed.
With three matches each scheduled for tomorrow and the day after (local time) that will determine South Korea's fate in the Round of 32, and given the difficult conditions—such as the requirement for Ghana to beat Croatia—it appears South Korea will have to wait until the very end to see if they advance.
Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Ui-seon | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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