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.
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.
Last-gasp qualifying
To reach this year's tournament, South Africa topped an African qualifying group containing Nigeria, Benin, Lesotho, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
The path was not straightforward. South Africa were docked three points after fielding an ineligible player in a 2-0 win over Lesotho in September 2025, with Fifa awarding the match to Lesotho 3-0.
Going into the final round of matches, Benin, South Africa and Nigeria all had a chance of taking the automatic qualification place.
The results went South Africa's way. Nigeria beat Benin 4-0 to finish second on 17 points, and South Africa beat Rwanda 3-0 to top the group on 18 points.
After the match in Mbombela, head coach Hugo Broos paid tribute to his players.
"They weren't even sure that if they won 5-0 that they would be qualified because if Benin wins ... it's finished.
"But the way the players started ... what a mentality they showed. There was a fighting spirit that was in the team.
"It makes me enormously proud to see that. I'm really proud of those guys and proud for those guys."
After facing Mexico, South Africa take on the Czech Republic on 18 June in Atlanta before finishing their Group A campaign against South Korea in Monterrey on 24 June.
Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams will captain the squad, which includes eight players each from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.
The expanded 48-team format introduces a last-32 round featuring the top two from each of the 12 groups as well as the eight best third-placed sides, giving more teams a route into the knockout stages.
"If you have three points you go through, that is for sure," said Broos after naming his World Cup squad. "We are four teams and the difference in quality is not so big.
"We just have to believe in our chances but if we are afraid that we cannot win against those opponents, then it becomes very difficult. So we have to believe."
