South Africa

• 1
  South Africa's tournament ended 1-0 to Canada in the round of 32 on June 28, undone by a superb 92nd-minute strike from Stephen Eustaquio. It was a game between two nations both chasing their first-ever World Cup knockout win, and South Africa matched Canada for long spells and had good chances of their own — going out to a last-minute wonder-goal is about as respectable as a defeat gets.
• 2
  The bigger story is that South Africa were even there at all: this was the first time in the country's history that Bafana Bafana reached the World Cup knockout stage. They did it the hard way, losing their opener to Mexico before Thapelo Maseko's 63rd-minute goal beat South Korea 1-0 and dragged them from bottom of Group A to second.
• 3
  There isn't really a low point to be sensitive about here beyond the manner of the exit itself — a stoppage-time strike from distance that South Africa's defence couldn't have done much about. If anything, the turning point was the opposite of a collapse: Maseko's goal against South Korea is the moment their whole tournament pivoted from early elimination to history.
• 4
  Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams is the one to know — a calm, experienced presence who anchored an organised defence through every game South Africa played, including 90-plus minutes of largely holding out a dangerous Canada side. Goalkeepers rarely get the headlines, but this is what a good one looks like when a team is punching above its weight.
• 5
  This is genuinely one of the good stories of the tournament — a first-ever knockout stage appearance for South African football, built under manager Hugo Broos on organisation and resilience rather than star names. They'll go home disappointed to have lost so late, but this is the kind of campaign a country builds its footballing self-belief on for years afterwards.