The South Korean national football team, which failed to secure a spot in the Round of 32 on its own following a shocking defeat, engaged in a tense standoff with South African players who were loudly celebrating their victory in the mixed zone after the match.

Immediately after the game, South Korean players had entered the area first to conduct interviews with domestic media. Shortly after, the South African players appeared, singing loudly to celebrate their win.

As the noise level made it difficult to conduct interviews, the media initially requested that they keep it down. When the South African side pushed back against the request, national team midfielder Hwang In-beom raised his voice, saying, "Please show some respect."

The situation was quickly brought under control following intervention by officials at the scene.

According to tournament officials, it was determined that there is no explicit FIFA regulation prohibiting noise in the mixed zone.

After the commotion settled, Hwang continued his interview, calmly acknowledging the defeat by stating, "Rather than pointing to a specific cause for the loss, we simply fell short in many areas, which led to this poor result."

On the other hand, the South African squad attributed their victory to tactical superiority.

Hugo Broos, the head coach of South Africa, said in the post-match press conference, "South Korea was exactly as we expected," adding, "We knew they were a fast team that runs a lot and tries to exploit the space behind the defense."

He further explained the reason for the victory, stating, "It was because we handled both our possession and theirs well."

South Africa, which was eliminated in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup held in their home country, wrote a new chapter in their history with this victory, advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time ever.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News