South Africans get World Cup fever

When hosts Mexico faced South Africa in the opening match of the Fifa World Cup, supporters in both countries, and as far away as Israel, were glued to their screens and the field. It was the start of a month-long celebration of football and national pride. 

Though he’s not that much of a football fan and prefers rugby, Zev Krengel loves going to the Fifa World Cup with his family. 

“I love seeing the world come together for sport. And it was just nice having South Africa back in the soccer World Cup,” he said. 

Travelling to this year’s World Cup was also exciting because he hadn’t been to Mexico before. 

“It’s been 16 years since South Africa has been there, and it’s the biggest sporting event in the world, you know, the Fifa World Cup. And I’ve never been to Mexico City, so it was a great opportunity. We’re doing Mexico, and then we’re going to go to the Atlanta game on 18 June,” he said. 

Ashley Kotzin explained that this is his first trip to the Fifa World Cup in 20 years, and though it’s for work, as he is in the football management business, it isn’t any less exciting. 

Kotzin said although watching Bafana Bafana play their first game against Mexico was disappointing as they lost 2-0 and received three red cards, being there was memorable. 

“The sheer size of the stadium and the enormity of the event were pretty surreal,” he said. “The energy was just electric, the fans, the vibe. It was a big thing for Mexico. Everyone in the stadium was wearing a green jersey. You could feel the intensity before the game. The World Cup is a big moment, and you could see that for Mexico, national pride was top and centre.” 

“That was very special to be back at the World Cup,” said Krengel. “We were treated unbelievably well. I wore my kippah everywhere. A couple of Mexican Jewish guys saw it. We did a little dance, and it was great. I must say the vibe was great. The people were great. Everything worked. The traffic in the cities and life there is hectic, but everything else around the game was unbelievable.” 

Kotzin said he was disappointed South Africa didn’t play well. “I think the enormity of the occasion just got the better of the players, unfortunately, but overall, it was just amazing being there.” 

Not everyone has the privilege of travelling to attend the World Cup. Harold Silber, who made aliya 17 years ago, explained that he still supports Bafana Bafana and watched the opening game in Netanya. 

“From seeing Bafana Bafana lift the Afcon trophy in 1996 to watching South Africa take on Brazil at the 2009 Confederations Cup, football has been part of my life for decades,” he said. “Now, in 2026, 17 years after making aliya, I’m still proudly waving the South African flag from Tel Aviv and supporting Bafana Bafana from afar.” 

Back home in South Africa, many soccer fans gathered in their homes, bars, and restaurants to watch the kickoff. 

South African Union of Jewish Students national vice-chairperson, Jacob Boner, felt that it would be an amazing opportunity to get university students together to watch the game. 

“Everyone gets huge World Cup fever when it comes around to the World Cup, and when we look at the university age, it’s people who were between the ages of four and seven when it was the 2010 World Cup. They have such fond memories of that and haven’t seen South Africa play in anything as grand as that since then,” he said. 

When the 180 students showed up at the bar to celebrate the kickoff, “there was just a lot of national pride on display, especially when we were singing the anthems at the start. You could see everyone was very proud, very happy to see South Africa back on the World Cup stage. To know that we have a presence not just in rugby and cricket, but also in soccer, which is far and away the most popular sport in the country,” he said.