Do It Better #17 - South Africa
World Cup Do It Better
I’m managing each nation at the World Cup and trying to do better than they managed in real life. I’ve hardly played FM26, so if I’m not great, bear with me!
17 – South Africa
The first team I’m attempting who made the knockouts in real life, and I think it’s going to be a tough one. I’d say South Africa are the weakest team in Group A, although at least there are no obvious juggernauts in our group, so we definitely have a chance. I think making it past the 2^(nd) round (to succeed in ‘doing it better’ is going to be very tough though, depending on our opponents).
I went with a 4-3-3, with our pacey wingers creating for front man Lyle Foster, while the rest of the team can hopefully do jobs at both ends. I’m trying out a ball playing centre back instead of a regular one because Mbokazi has 15 passing and 16 vision!
Game 1 – Mexico. The first game of the entire tournament and we went down inside 5 minutes, although we then equalised in the same minute! From then on we dominated the whole game, ending with triple Mexico’s shots (and double their shots on target), with 61% possession, but despite all that the points were shared, with the only goals in the game coming in the exact same minute. Bad luck for anyone who was late getting to their seats! Oh and also, at least we didn’t get 2 red cards.
Game 2 – Czechia. It was a similar game to the first as we dominated statistically but couldn’t break down our opponents, and in the end they scored first, just past half an hour! From there they actually took control and went in at the break in charge of the game on the pitch and the scoreboard. The second half we were terrible, we hardly had a shot and Czechia kicked on, we were getting pushed further and further under pressure and nevermind equalising, we just clung on to a 1-0 defeat.
Game 3 – South Korea. The battle of the Souths to decide whether we’d qualify or not, only a win would be enough. And we certainly did our part in the first half, preventing South Korea from recording any shots on target, while having 10 shots (4 on target) of our own, with Themba Zwane giving us a deserved lead late in the half and into the break! The second half was quiet, as we restricted South Korea to just 1 shot on target in 90 minutes, but in stoppage time, they got their second. And Heung-Min Son equalised for South Korea, breaking South African hearts and knocking us out.
Or were we… We finished 3^(rd), and only the 4 worst 3^(rd) place teams get knocked out. With 2 points and -1 goal difference it seemed impossible, but Group B’s Bosnia were on 2 points with -2 GD, Group C’s Morocco on 1 point and -4 GD. Just 2 more teams would be enough. Turkiye and Ecuador both beat our record, Japan and New Zealand followed suit. Saudi Arabia beat Cape Verde on the final day, a draw wouldn’t have been enough for them. Senegal too, we still need 2 more worse than us, the hope was fading. Austria did enough, Congo’s stoppage time winner got them through, and Ghana went through too. So it was official, we were out in the groups, alongside Bosnia and Morocco who gave us hope, and Austria as the 4^(th).
So it’s the first time we’ve officially done worse than real life, and honestly I knew it was going to be a tough one. 2 points from that group, I’d have probably taken it if I didn’t know the task was to reach and get past the 2^(nd) round.
Next up: Japan!
Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:14 PM UTC