Bafana Bafana land in Mexico after visa issues caused flight delay

Bafana Bafana's full squad of players have landed in Mexico for the FIFA World Cup after Visa issues caused a delay. EJ Langer/Soccrates/Getty Images

South Africa touched down in Mexico on Tuesday after their charter flight had initially been delayed due to visa issues.

Following emergency engagements with the US Embassy in Johannesburg, all players had their visas sorted and boarded their departure flight on Monday - a day later than initially scheduled.

SABC Sport reported that assistant coach Helman Mkhalele and head of security Mdu Mbatha have received their visas after further delays and will soon join Hugo Broos and his squad in Mexico.

SportyTV posted footage on X of Bafana Bafana players exiting the plane on Tuesday. The team is scheduled to play a friendly match against Jamaica before kicking off the World Cup campaign against co-hosts Mexico on June 11 in Mexico City.

Bafana Bafana will subsequently play further Group A fixtures against Czechia (June 18) and South Korea (June 24 - with kick-off scheduled for early the following morning for those watching on South African Standard Time).

Bafana Bafana have never made the knockout rounds of a FIFA World Cup. This will be their fourth appearance at the tournament, following group stage exits in 1998, 2002 and 2010.