Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio shows a red card to South Africa's midfielder Themba Zwane during the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between Mexico and South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 11, 2026. Picture: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP
After months of preparation — and years if you include their qualifying campaign — the 2-0 loss to co-hosts Mexico in their opening Fifa World Cup match would have come as a hammer blow to Bafana Bafana’s ambitions of reaching the next round. But all is not lost. Not yet.
Of course, losing by two goals was not ideal, but avoiding a third against Mexico may yet prove to be Bafana’s saving grace. More on that later.
That Bafana were utterly toothless in attack is a topic for another day.
Bafana qualified for the tournament on merit; they deserve to be there. Even after being docked three points during qualifying due to an administrative error, South Africa still finished top of their group and booked their World Cup ticket. That alone was a monumental feat.
