Hugo Broos didn’t seem too enamoured with facing Mexico in the 2026 Fifa World Cup opening match. Picture Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix Hugp Broos was not too impressed that Bafana Bafana were drawn to play host nation Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. The Group A game will take place on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in front of a passionate home crowd.
Bafana did avoid top seeds in the draw like France, England, Germany, Spain and Argentina. “I can’t be happy we have to play our first game against a home team,” said Broos, however. “We can’t be happy to play such games in front of 80 000 crazy fans.
The atmosphere will be fantastic. But we have nothing to lose. No one will think South Africa will beat Mexico.
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We have to enjoy it.” Bafana were also drawn with South Korea and one of four European sides – Denmark, North Macedonia, the Czech Republic and Ireland. The play-offs will take place in March and see six more countries qualify for an expanded 48-team World Cup. In the new format, the top two in each of the 12 groups at the finals will make it to the knockout rounds, along with the eight best third-placed finishers.
“When we got South Korea, at that point I was happy,” added Broos. “But we hoped the last one would be someone else than we have now. It will probably be Denmark.
Mexico and Denmark are both very big teams, and it will be difficult to be second or first in the group. But on the other hand this is a new World Cup and the first eight third places will also go through. We can focus on that and maybe get one of the best third places.
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