South Africa sports minister Gayton McKenzie says Bafana Bafana deserve some credit following their participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mckenzie’s statement comes a day after Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 to Canada in the round of 32 of the ongoing tournament in North America. However, he notes that more should be done to discover the hidden talent across the country, to produce a better squad in future.

“It is with enormous pride and a heart full of gratitude that I congratulate Bafana Bafana on completing what has been the most extraordinary chapter in the history of South African football,” wrote McKenzie.

“Yes, we are knocked out. Yes, the pain of a late goal in Los Angeles will sting for a long time. But no result and no final scoreline can take away what this team has given our country over the past three weeks.

“Bafana Bafana reached the knockout rounds of a FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history. In their fourth World Cup appearance, after (group stage) exits in 1998, 2002, and on home soil in 2010, these young men did what no South African team has ever done before. They made it through, and that is not a small thing. That is history that can’t be erased, written in the gold and green on the world stage in front of billions of people,” he said.

“I also want to take this moment to congratulate Canada on a well-deserved victory, and to extend the Ministry’s congratulations to all three host nations – the United States, Canada, and Mexico – for the outstanding manner in which they have staged this tournament. This has been a World Cup that has captured the imagination of the world, and the hosts deserve enormous credit for that.

“We have been made to feel at home in both Mexico and the USA, who opened their arms to South Africa and showed us great love. We will never forget it.

“The manner in which this team qualified made it even more remarkable. Written off after a 2–0 defeat to Mexico in the opening match, they showed character, resilience, and tactical intelligence to draw with Czechia and, in what many will rightly describe as one of the greatest nights in our football, beat South Korea 1–0 to book their place in the Round of 32. That victory, earned by Thapelo Maseko’s 63rd-minute strike, lifted South Africa from fourth to second place in the group and announced our arrival on the global knockout stage.

“I want to pay special tribute to Coach Hugo Broos. When the final whistle blew against South Korea, Broos collapsed to the turf as the bench flooded the pitch. That image captured his years of work, belief, sacrifice and love for this team and this country. Coach, you have earned your place in the history of South African sport. What you have built here is something that will endure long after this tournament,” continued McKenzie.

“I must also pay tribute to the South African Football Association for its commitment to this campaign. Results like these are the fruit of sustained investment in players, coaching staff, and the development of the game.

“To Ronwen Williams, who led from the front and commanded the goalkeeper’s jersey with authority and calm. To Teboho Mokoena, whose penalty against Czechia proved nerve when it mattered most. To Thapelo Maseko – you are a young man whose personal story of setback and comeback must inspire us all. At the FIFA World Cup, you scored the goal that made history. Every young person in South Africa who has been told they are finished and that their moment has passed must know your name and your story.

“To every player in our squad: South Africa sees you and we thank you. We are proud of each of you – not just for the moments of glory, but for the moments no one saw: the early mornings, the doubts you needed to overcome and the commitment to your country.

“The manner of our exit, so close to extra time, will always be painful. But this is sport, and the margins at the top level are small, and they are brutal. What we must take from this, and what the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture is committed to facilitating, is that the lessons from this campaign are properly captured, honestly assessed and used to build on what has been achieved. There are many things we could have done better. There are decisions, tactical and otherwise, that we must analyse with rigour and without defensiveness.

“This is not a criticism but a commitment to growth. More AFCONs are coming. Future World Cups are coming. If we learn from these experiences with the same courage this team showed on the pitch, we will go further still in years to come, and we must.

“Honest reflection also demands that we hold up a mirror to ourselves as a country. Bafana Bafana has shown us what is possible. They have shown us how much we are leaving on the table. The talent that produced Oswin Appollis, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Relebohile Mofokeng and this whole generation of players exists in every township, village and school in South Africa. The nations we hope to beat are finding their talent and investing in it.

“Too much of ours is going undiscovered. Too many future stars are being lost because we do not find them early enough, because our school sport infrastructure is not yet what it should be, and because the pipeline from the playground to the professional game has too many gaps in it. This tournament must be the moment we commit, seriously and with resources behind the commitment, to transforming school sport in this country.

“This brings me to something I feel more strongly about today than ever. Sport is not merely entertainment or recreation. It is big business – an untapped economic sector, a nation-building tool and a powerful vehicle for social transformation. What we have witnessed over the past three weeks was South Africa occupying global prime time, generating tourism, trade, and investment interest, and projecting an image of a confident, capable and compelling nation to billions of viewers. We cannot afford to treat football development as a discretionary line item. I am committing this Ministry to working across government to find additional resources for sports development, with school sport as the priority.

“The return on that investment – measured in talent, national pride, economic activity and the futures of young South Africans – will compound powerfully.

“This is not the end but a new beginning. South Africa is a football nation. We always were, and today, the world knows it and will remember it.”