South Africa enter the first 48-team World Cup as Africa's 11th-ranked side in the Fifa standings. In the first instalment of a nine-part series on African squads at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, RFI looks at a nation making its fourth appearance at the finals.
Issued on: 01/06/2026 - 16:18
3 min Reading time
South Africa played Mexico in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup on home soil. Sixteen years on, the two sides meet again in Mexico City to open this summer's tournament. The 2010 match at Soccer City in Johannesburg ended 1-1. South Africa go into the fixture on 11 June 2026 at the Estadio Azteca ranked 56th in Fifa's rankings of 211 nations. Mexico are ranked 15th and will be looking to improve on their 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they were eliminated at the group stage after reaching the knockout rounds in each of the previous seven tournaments. Target: knockout stages South Africa have never reached the second phase of a World Cup. Bafana Bafana, as the side are nicknamed, made their tournament debut against hosts France in 1998 at the first 32-team World Cup. A France side containing current head coach Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry beat them 3-0 at the Vélodrome in Marseille. Subsequent draws with Denmark and Saudi Arabia left South Africa with two points and third place in the group. They finished third again at the 2002 tournament, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. Road to 2026: Nigeria knuckle down as South Africa seek to claw back points In 2010, at the first World Cup staged in Africa, South Africa again failed to progress. After the 1-1 draw with Mexico, Uruguay beat them 3-0. Although they beat France 2-1, they finished third in the group and became the first host nation to be eliminated at the group stage. Qatar repeated the feat four years ago.
