Bafana Bafana lost 2-0 to Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Thursday.
It was not a convincing opening display for the co-hosts, but they were clinical whenever they got a chance.
As for South Africa, they never moved past the first gear and even with five defensive players, they looked vulnerable at the back throughout the match.
Phakaaathi’s Khaya Ndubane looks at the three things we learned from the Mexico versus Bafana game:
Broos’ surprise 5-3-2 formation fails to inspire
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos moved away from his traditional four-man backline, opting for five at the back to neutralise the attacking threat posed by Mexico’s forwards. The system also gave wingbacks Khuliso Mudau and Katlego Modiba attacking freedom to overlap into the final third, ensuring the team wasn’t merely sitting deep but had the transitional pace to attack. The three-man centre back pairing was breached, however, in as early as the ninth minute when Julián AndrĂ©s Quiñones put Mexico in the lead following a mistake at the back by Bafana. Siphephelo Sithole was disposed of in a dangerous area after receiving a pass from Ronwen Williams and Quiñones then put the ball between Williams’ leg to give the hosts an early lead.
Mexico dominate possession
With South Africa sitting back when they lost possession, the hosts dominated possession and had more shots on target. At one stage Mexico had over 60 percent of ball possession and Ronwen Williams was kept busy, but the Bafana Bafana captain kept Bafana Bafana in the game by producing some fine saves. Bafana hardly put three passes together in the game and were rushed into making mistakes by Mexico. Ironically, Bafana looked better when they were 10 men down following a red card to Sithole who was sent off for denying a player an obvious goal scoring chance. But following another red card for Bafana, this time to Themba Zwane, Bafana were forced to apply a low block again to see out the game. Jimenez makes World Cup history
Veteran Mexico RaĂşl JimĂ©nez made history by scoring his first goal in the FIFA World Cup. The 35-year-old opened his World Cup account with a header in the 68th minute to double Mexico’s lead. Despite his wealth of goalscoring experience, and being just few goals behind Mexico’s all-time goalscorer Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, JimĂ©nez had never scored in a World Cup prior to scoring against South Africa. A seasoned veteran, JimĂ©nez has represented his country across four major FIFA World Cup tournaments: Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
