Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi has sent a strong message to South Africa at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Co-hosts Mexico secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over South Africa in the opening match of the tournament on Thursday, June 11.
Match Overview
Saudi league top scorer Julian Quinones opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a low finish through the legs of South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. In the 67th minute, veteran striker Raul Jimenez sealed the victory with a close-range header, ensuring a winning start for the co-hosts. The Bafana Bafana currently sit at the bottom of Group A after South Korea defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in the second match.
Akpeyi Advises Hugo Broos
Speaking on SuperSport, the former Chippa United shot-stopper noted that Broos fielded a relatively young side against a vastly experienced Mexican team. Akpeyi also believes the red cards played a major role in South Africa's 2-0 defeat. He said: "You would agree it is a young team that the coach has tried to put together. With the tactical approach of the coach, he didn't want to lose and concede too many goals. But unfortunately, it turned out to be a situation where the team had to play with reduced numbers after the red cards."
Looking Ahead
The AFCON bronze medallist added that a victory against the Czech Republic would significantly boost South Africa's chances of progressing to the knockout stage. He urged Broos to "go back to the drawing board and see if we can play South African football against Czech to see how far that the team can be able to go. Because, like this, you don't want to spoil the record that you have made earlier on in 2010 against Mexico and you just want to leave the tournament like this. So, you want to try as much as possible to at least get a result with Czech to help give you confidence and see if you can sustain the group."
South Korea came from behind to defeat Czech Republic 2-1, with substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute in the second match, per Sofascore.
