The South African national football team, which will face Hong Myung-bo’s Korean squad at the 2026 FIFA North and Central American World Cup, suffered an embarrassing one-day departure delay due to visa issuance problems.
South Africa’s national team had originally been scheduled to depart for Mexico on the 1st (Korea time).
However, the departure was scrapped after some players and coaching staff failed to obtain U.S. visas. The South African Ministry of Sport launched an emergency response, and the South African Football Association (SAFA) worked with the U.S. consulate and the foreign ministry to resolve the issue.
After much difficulty, the visa problem was sorted out and departure was rescheduled for the 2nd. But even on that day, four staff members — a coach, team doctor, safety officer and performance analyst — had still not received their visas, forcing officials to scramble through procedures until the last minute.
Gayton McKenzie, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, sharply criticized the incident. On social media, he called it “a catastrophe caused by administrative error” and said it had “made the country look foolish.” He demanded that the South African Football Association submit a report on the matter and mentioned the need to hold those responsible accountable.
The South African Football Association acknowledged that “problems arose in the visa issuance process for some players and officials,” but did not disclose specific reasons.
This is not the first time SAFA’s administrative capabilities have come under scrutiny.
In the African qualifiers for the World Cup, the association fielded midfielder Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho despite his suspension for accumulated yellow cards, resulting in a forfeit defeat that put the team’s qualification for the main tournament in jeopardy.
After overcoming these setbacks to begin its World Cup journey, South Africa will use Pachuca, Mexico, as its base camp. The team will play a friendly against Jamaica on the 6th before facing host nation Mexico in the World Cup opener in Mexico City on the 11th.
South Africa will play its third group-stage match against South Korea on the 25th at 10 a.m. in Monterrey, Mexico.
