World Cup: S’Africa skipper bemoans lack of support from Africans
South Africa captain Ronwen Williams has bemoaned the lack of support from Africans after the 2-0 loss to Mexico in the 2026 World Cup opening game on Thursday.
The Bafana Bafana failed to impress in their first World Cup match since 2010 after going down to the hosts at the Mexico City Stadium.
Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez scored for Mexico to hand them the maximum points as South Africa finished the game with nine players after the duo of Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off.
Williams was disappointed with the lack of support from fellow Africans.
He said: ”We almost shed tears because we expected Africa to stand with us.
”Africans have always supported other African countries in every World Cup tournament, but I can’t figure out why our own case was different.
“Many Africans supported Mexico instead of us, the South Africans. We almost shed tears, but truly this is sad.
“As Africans, let’s stand for each other. Let’s stand together.”
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The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper urged his teammates not to give up on qualifying for the second round of the tournament despite the opening defeat.
Williams said: “You don’t want to concede in the first 20 minutes, and that’s what exactly what happened.
“We wanted to sit up, the nerves, the anxiety, obviously, at this level, you make a mistake, they punish you.
“We got into the game, put them on the break, but our final passes let us down.
“There are lots of lessons to take, I am proud of the boys, the efforts, they didn’t stop, they kept fighting.
“Now is to analyse our mistakes, and not give up, there are still two games to play and we must believe.”
In the other Group A match, South Korea defeated Czech Republic 2-1.
South Africa will return to action against Czechia on Thursday in a bid to boost their chances of advancing to the next round of the tournament.
