South Africa’s World Cup squad will leave for the tournament on Monday after travel visa issues delayed its departure, the national football body said.
South Africa will play co-host Mexico in the opening match of the World Cup on June 11 in Mexico City.
The South African team was due to leave on Sunday to travel to the United States and then Mexico but had not secured visas for some players and backroom staff, sports minister Gayton McKenzie said.
McKenzie posted X that the visa “debacle” was caused by an administrative error by team officials, calling it shameful. He demanded a report from the South African Football Association.
The association said on Monday it had now secured visas for all players, although four staff members still did not have visas. They were an assistant coach, the team doctor, the head of security and an analyst, McKenzie said.
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The football federation said it hoped that the travel documents would be ready in time so that they could board the charter flight to Johannesburg on Monday. It held an emergency meeting on Sunday evening, it said.
The federation apologized for the delay and said it had received assistance from the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Consulate in Johannesburg to resolve the problems.
South Africa’s team management came under scrutiny during World Cup qualifying after midfielder Teboho Mokoena played in a match against Lesotho despite being suspended. South Africa was deprived of its victory, putting its hopes of qualification in jeopardy.
The team overcame that and qualified one point ahead in the group.
South Africa will play in the World Cup for the first time since hosting it in 2010. The country also faces the Czech Republic in Atlanta and South Korea in Monterrey, Mexico, in Group A.
Published on June 1, 2026
