South Africa and Mexico will relive and replay the opening match of the 2010 edition of FIFA World Cup – just three days before the opening match of the 2026 edition of football’s global showpiece in Mexico City, featuring the same two nations.
On 8 June, the 2010 legends will clash in Pachuca, a city approximately 90 kilometers north-east of Mexico City where Bafana Bafana will be based for the group stage of World Cup in the Americas.
Together they will celebrate and relive the historic occasion of the first ever FIFA World Cup on African soil.
It is the brainchild of Sports Minister Gayton Mckenzie and the South African Football Association, and is just one of several initiatives planned in Mexico.
Sixteen years ago, on 11 June 2010, the hosts, South Africa, opened the first FIFA World Cup on African soil at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, against Mexico. It was a memorable and historic World Cup like none other.
The sights and sounds struck a chord in many souls, resonating like a shared heartbeat. In the words of Sports Minister Mckenzie, those who experienced it, will never forget it.
Sixteen years later, those memories will be rekindled. Wherever and whenever South Africans come together, they deserve a place they can call home.
In partnership with Brand South Africa and SA Tourism, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will create a sanctuary at the Centre of Arts in Mexico City during the World Cup. This special hub will be known as The Ekhaya Centre, a sanctuary for South Africans abroad.
South African artists will be supported to entertain, and chefs will be flown in to feed visitors and guests to Ekhaya during the tournament.
Mafikizolo and Mi Casa are just two of the artists who will be taken to the Americas to share the soundtrack of modern South Africa with the world.
BREAKING: @Minister@GaytonMcK announces a lucky fan competition that’ll see 16 fans, one from each @OfficialPSL Premier Division team selected to go & attend the @FIFAWorldCup in Mexico
, USA
There’s a strict criteria to be followed, and a selected panel of… pic.twitter.com/X65N9Kw3c2
— Velile Mnyandu
, USA 
& Canada 
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(@Velile_Mnyandu) – Report by Lenay Booysen
