[Official] Score error leads to criticism of 'ghost match'; South Africa vs. Jamaica match in 'group like Korea' ultimately ends in a 1-1 draw

*This content was translated by AI.

The result of South Africa's final pre-World Cup friendly against Jamaica, who are in the same group as the South Korea national football team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, has been officially confirmed as a draw.

The South African Football Association announced on the 8th (Korea time) via its official website that the friendly match against Jamaica held at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico, ended in a 1-1 draw.

This friendly against Jamaica, which served as South Africa's final pre-World Cup match, was held in full secrecy, with neither spectators nor media allowed.

Even for a closed friendly, it is customary to release the lineup and results, but there was no official announcement from either the South African Football Association or the Jamaica Football Federation.

At the time the match ended, reports circulated that South Africa had defeated Jamaica 1-0, and this information was fully reflected in global media outlets such as ESPN, major statistical platforms, and various applications.

However, a series of reports quickly followed stating that the 1-0 victory for South Africa was erroneous, creating a farcical situation. This occurred after a video surfaced showing Rudolph Spade, head coach of the Jamaica national team, confirming a 1-1 draw in an interview with local media immediately after the match.

In response, the football statistics specialist Flashscore referred to the match between the two teams, for which neither the lineup nor the result could be properly verified, as a 'ghost match.'

Even after this, no official announcement from either football association was made for some time, until the South African Football Association later released interviews with both team coaches, thereby officially confirming the 1-1 draw result.

Hugo Broos (Belgium), head coach of the South Africa national team, stated, "The performance in the Jamaica match did not meet expectations. We need to analyze carefully to identify what went wrong and find areas for improvement to prepare for the World Cup opener against Mexico."

With today's draw against Jamaica, South Africa enters the World Cup in a form of five consecutive draws in A-matches (three draws and two losses). South Africa began this year in January with a 1-2 loss to Cameroon in the 2025 CAF Nations Cup Round of 16, followed by a 1-1 draw and a loss in two friendlies against Panama in March, and most recently, consecutive draws against NIKARA and Jamaica.

In particular, despite NIKARA being ranked 131st and Jamaica 71st in the FIFA rankings, South Africa (ranked 60th) failed to produce clear results ahead of the World Cup, heightening concerns. South Africa will play its opener against Mexico on the 12th at 4 a.m., followed by a match against Czech Republic on the 19th at 1 a.m. The match between South Korea, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, and South Africa will be held on the 25th at 10 a.m. at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico.

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*This content was translated by AI.