A win would likely guarantee South Africa’s passage to the round of 32, as one of the best third-placed sides at worst, while a draw will probably not be enough to see them through.
They have played against teams from the Asian confederation on 16 previous occasions, winning only three times to go with eight draws and five defeats.
Those wins have come against Australia (1996), Saudi Arabia (1999) and Thailand (2010), while they have been defeated three times by the Socceroos, once by the Saudis and once by the United Arab Emirates.
If we speak strictly about matches against teams from the Far East in Asia, the same region as the South Koreans, then there have been only three past meetings, never one with the latter, and they were all pre-2010 World Cup warm-ups.
They faced Japan in Gqeberha in November 2009 in a game that ended in a 0-0 draw, before a clash with North Korea at their training camp in Germany in April 2010, which also ended goalless.
The following month they thumped Thailand 4-0 at the Mbombela Stadium in a game that later came under suspicion in the pre-World Cup match-fixing probe, though no blame was ever apportioned to players.
Siphiwe Tshabalala, Katlego Mphela (two) and Bernard Parker were all on target.
It was a little odd at the time that South Africa faced so many sides from the Far East in the build-up to the tournament, given their group contained Mexico, Uruguay and France, all teams with completely different styles.
So, for whatever reason, it has been slim pickings against teams from that region over the years, with all Bafana’s clashes coming in one six-month spell.
They can turn around and say they are unbeaten, or even yet to concede a goal, but it will be a challenge to keep a clean sheet against the lively South Koreans.
You get the feeling they will have to do that though, and nick a goal from somewhere.
