Brian Gutierrez of Mexico is fouled by Bafana's Sphephelo Sithole during the FIFA World Cup opening match at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday, 11 June 2026. Sithole was issued a red card on the play.

Mexico’s 2-0 victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup opener was the result of Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos’ loyalty to a fault rather than of what the hosts did on the Azteca Stadium pitch on Thursday, writes Njabulo Ngidi.

At the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City

Hugo Broos’ best quality as Bafana Bafana’s longest serving coach is also his worst attribute when not managed well.

The 2-0 loss to Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday exposed the faults of the attribute that helped the Belgian restore Bafana’s dignity.

Broos is loyal to a fault. That loyalty helped build a team that wasn’t reliant on the brightest stars but the most honest hard workers.

As the son of a policeman who was raised in a Catholic school, the 74-year-old strongly believes in a good work ethic and discipline. His approach offered a solid foundation to a team that used to be divided by cliques and which jersey colour one wore in domestic football.

MATCH RECAP | Bafana’s World Cup dream turns into instant nightmare after woeful Mexico loss

It divided opinions but left players knowing where they stood. The result is that players play for Broos, even when they are not the best in their position in the country – they work hard enough to win over the Belgian’s sensibilities that prioritise work ethic over everything.

At its best, this approach united Bafana and pushed them to a third-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). However, that was the easy part. At the time, Bafana were lower than a snake’s stomach – struggling to even qualify for an Afcon that needed two out of the four teams in a group.

When the team moved closer to the top, Broos didn’t add layers to his approach. It resulted in Bafana being exposed tactically for their shortcomings, as the first half of the coach’s tenure was driven by heart.

On Thursday, Broos prioritised loyalty when he named his starting XI against El Tri, where he threw a few curve balls to South Africans and even Mexico.

Broos started with five at the back with a spine of three centre-backs in the form of Nkosinathi Sibisi, Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Ime Okon.

In front of the trio sat Teboho Mokoena and Jayden Adams, who had earned their places because of the work they had put in the past season, especially Adams, as Mokoena picked himself in his position.

The third choice in the heart of midfield was a loyalty-driven pick. Sphephele Sithole was given a run due to his contributions for Bafana when they won the Afcon bronze medal in the Ivory Coast.

Sithole was injured in that campaign, ruling him out for more than a year. When the Portugal-based midfielder inched closer towards full fitness, Broos returned him to his team.

However, instead of the industrious Sithole, who was nicknamed Yaya – after the monstrous Ivorian Yaya Toure – Broos and Bafana got back a man who had lost his quick thinking and strength. Sithole has been the weak link in Bafana’s midfield since returning from his injury.

But Broos persisted with him, hoping things would click and the real Yaya would return. Against Mexico, Sithole put in a shift that might make it hard for him to return to the team.

The red card he earned in the 50th minute when he clattered into Brian Gutiérrez as the last line of defence, committing a professional foul on the edge of the box, means that it will be hard for him to even return to the team during this World Cup.

Sithole should probably not have returned to the field in the second half.

That red card, however costly it was for Bafana, was something of an act of mercy as he had struggled throughout the 50 minutes he was on the pitch.

It was Sithole’s mistake, just nine minutes into the game, that put Bafana on the back foot as it allowed Mexico to take an early lead.

Sithole, who used to be quick in his scanning, operated like he had blinkers on and was wearing metal for boots. He failed to see the oncoming Alvaro Fidalgo, who pick-pocketed Yaya and then created space for Julian Quinones to send the Azteca Stadium cathedral into a spiritual trance.

Avoiding conceding early had been the main objective for Bafana in front of an 80 824-strong crowd dominated by Mexicans.

Even as the home crowd used their dominance in the stands in every aspect of the game, their win wasn’t because of what Mexico did. Rather, it came through the mistakes Bafana made.

Ronwen Williams produced a number of brilliant saves to keep Bafana in the game, but when his centre-backs failed to deal with a cross, even he couldn’t stop Raul Jimenez when the Mexican talisman had a free header in the 67th minute.

That goal came just 17 minutes after Bafana were a man down. Sithole’s absence didn’t hurt Bafana much, but losing their shape in trying to overcompensate did – it ultimately resulted in Themba Zwane also being sent off.

The three red cards – with the third handed to Mexico’s captain, Cesar Montes, in the referee’s optional time – summed up the match. All three of them were silly.

The game was a scrap that did not live up to the projected figures of 1.5 billion viewers tuning in across the world.

Bafana were so timid that Raul Rangel might as well have joined the supporters on the stands.

It did not go unnoticed by the home crowd that their team wasn’t much of a threat as they whistled at their own players when they started to slow down the tempo.

The three points that Mexico started the competition with, in their first win after seven failed attempts in the opening match of a World Cup, were a gift from Broos’ loyalty more than anything that they did on the pitch.

But at full-time, when the home crowd embraced their players and celebrated a win that gave Mexico their ideal start in a home World Cup, it didn’t matter.

For Bafana, however, the manner of this loss is something that the team needs to interrogate, as loyalty can only take the team so far.