The World Cup delegation is on hold as players await visas for Mexico, which faces South Africa in its opening game in 11 days.
Published on 31 May 2026
The South African Football Association (SAFA) has said the departure of the South African team for the FIFA World Cup has been delayed due to visa blockages for Mexico, where they are to compete in the tournament's opening match in 11 days.
Bafana Bafana, as the South Africa national men's football team is known, was due to depart on a chartered flight from Johannesburg to Mexico City on Sunday morning, but was held up due to delays in visas to the co-host country for some members of the team.
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“The South African senior men's national team has faced challenges regarding visas for some players and officials, and as a result the group could not travel to North America this morning as originally planned,” SAFA said in a media release.
Mexico will host South Africa in its World Cup opener on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca.
“SAFA is working around the clock to ensure that the team travels to Mexico City as soon as possible before the opening match,” it added.
“We are committed to ensuring that the team's preparations for the tournament remain on track and in the meantime, Bafana will continue to train in Johannesburg until Bafana departure.”
The team was given a grand public farewell in Johannesburg on Saturday, before taking part in the tournament for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010, but the flight from OR Tambo Airport to Mexico City was postponed.
SAFA said it had called an emergency committee meeting on Sunday to discuss the issue after a strong condemnation from Sports Minister Guyton McKenzie, who described it as “shameful and extremely inappropriate”.
“We are being made to look like fools,” McKenzie said on the social media platform X.
South Africa will prepare for the World Cup with a friendly against Jamaica on June 5. After facing the co-hosts in their opening group match, they will face Czechia on June 18 and South Korea on June 24.
Hugo Bruce announced his 26-man squad on Wednesday, which includes two uncapped players.
Amid speculation of visa irregularities, many social media users questioned why the team held a parade in Johannesburg before their departure if team officials knew that the players had not yet been issued visas.
South Africa is not the first team to face visa issues at the World Cup.
Members of Iran's World Cup squad have also not been issued visas for the United States, where they will play their first match against New Zealand on June 15 followed by two more group matches.
According to Iranian state media reports on Saturday, FIFA has informed Mahdi Mohammadnabi, vice president of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFRI), that administrative work is in progress and visas will be issued this week.
FFIRI President Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday he hoped the US would issue multiple-entry visas for the World Cup delegation as the team will travel in and out of the country for its matches.
Iran moved its team's base camp from Arizona in the US to Mexico last week.