Watch VideoTeboho Mokoena: 2010 is in the past … Bafana Bafana want to make their own history in 2026

Bafana Bafanamidfielder Teboho Mokoena has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of their dauntingFIFA World Cup opener against Mexico, insisting the pressure is squarely on the co-hosts as South Africa look to rip up the textbook and script their own history at the Estadio Azteca. Addressing a packed press room on the eve of the tournament, Mokoena confidently laughed off bleak external data that has written off the South Africans before a ball has even been kicked in anger. Statisticians have handed Bafana Bafana a mere 7% mathematical probability of upsettingEl Trior advancing from a daunting Group A.

For Mokoena, however, those numbers represent the ultimate tactical liberation. “There is apparently a seven percent probability of us going into the next round, or even winning the game tomorrow,” a smiling Mokoena told reporters. “So we don’t have pressure, the pressure is squarely on the hosts, Mexico.

As a team, we know what is expected of us, and we know how much we have prepared for this game and for this tournament.” For this generation of South African players, the fixture carries immense symbolic weight, serving as a direct rematch of the iconic 2010 opening game in Johannesburg 16 years ago. Yet, while the rest of the world remains bathed in nostalgia, Mokoena was quick to point out that the current squad is firmly focused on the future rather than looking back. “I can’t remember much about 2010, only the goal of Siphiwe Tshabalala.

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I was still young then,” the Mamelodi Sundowns star admitted. “We haven’t spoken about the 2010 World Cup as a team; we want to create our own history. As you know, our country has never been to the knockout stages, and our explicit goal is to see ourselves going through to the next round.”

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