South Africa coach unhappy with red card after crushing loss against Mexico
South Africa coach Hugo Broos has questioned one of the key refereeing decisions in his side’s 2026 World Cup opener after Bafana Bafana suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mexico at the Estadio Azteca. The Belgian manager felt the second red card given to his team was harsh, although he accepted the first dismissal during a chaotic game that included three dismissals.
Mexico dominated Group A thanks to goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez. while South Africa ended the night with nine men. After the match, Broos admitted his side had paid the price for costly mistakes, but they were unhappy with one of referee Wilton Sampaio’s decisions.
MAIN MEXICO VS SOUTH AFRICA
“I think the first red card, I won’t say anything about it. The second red card I think the Mexican player fouled my player. But the referee decided something else,” said Broos.
“It’s a bit of a shame that we had to finish the game with nine players.”
The South Africa coach also highlighted the challenge of facing the tournament hosts in front of a packed home crowd, but insisted Mexico were not dominant throughout the contest.
“When you play a home game you’re going to be under pressure. But the only time we were under pressure was in the first 20 minutes. After that we had the ball and played well.”
“But we made two mistakes on our side. You don’t have to lose the ball in those moments. We lost the ball and there was space for Mexico and they could have scored twice.”
SOUTH AFRICA COACH PROUD OF THE TEAM
Despite the defeat and South Africa’s problems in attack, Broos surprisingly claimed his side put in a respectable performance against the co-hosts.
Mexico struck early through Quinones after a South African turnover before Jimenez doubled the lead after half-time. Bafana Bafana then saw Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane sent off, leaving them with an uphill battle.
Still, Broos believed his players caused Mexico problems and suggested the hosts found it difficult to break them down at times.
“I think my team played a good game,” Broos said.
“At some moments Mexico were desperate in the game, they didn’t know how to find space. The only thing we have to be better at in the next game is when we have the ball. We weren’t so good with that today, we have to work on that.”
WHAT’S NEXT IN SOUTH AFRICA AT THE WC?
Defeat leaves South Africa with little room for error in Group A, although hopes of qualification remain firmly alive.
Bafana Bafana will next face the Czech Republic on June 18 before taking on South Korea on June 24 in their final group stage match. With two games remaining, Broos and his players will be hoping to put the controversy of defeat in Mexico behind them and reignite their World Cup campaign.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
12 Jun 2026 07:05 IST