Don't be disrespectful - Ronwen Williams on Bafana criticism

18.06.26 FT World Cup

Czechia

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South Africa

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Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams has addressed the criticism around the team following their 2-0 defeat to co-hosts Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

South Africa are under scrutiny for the below-par performance at Azteca Stadium as head coach Hugo Broos surprisingly set-up in a 3-5-2 formation, which had serious repercussions with the team unable to create clear-cut scoring opportunities.

Bafana, as a result, are rooted at the bottom of Group A standings with an inferior goal difference to the other three teams, much to the frustration of pundits and supporters alike after a 16-year absence at the global showpiece.

With a host of former professional football players in South Africa, including ex-Bafana internationals voicing their displeasure with the team's display in the curtain raiser, Williams is adamant they gave Mexico a run for their money despite falling short.

“It is difficult and it hurts when it comes from fellow professionals, people who played the game at the highest level and know how difficult it is. You can question the performance but you can't question the attitude and the spirit that we had,” said the Bafana skipper.

"Playing half the game with a man down is not easy, playing against the host nation, and we had the attitude and the will to keep fighting. We didn't give Mexico much in the second half, and that shows the character that we have in this team.

"We could have easily given up, felt sorry for ourselves, gotten a beating, but we didn't, we kept believing, we kept fighting. Were we at our best? No. Will you always be at your best? No. But the character and the fight and the mentality that we had - the boys can be proud.

While he takes no issue with criticism, the seasoned goalie called out distasteful comments, urging constructive feedback, as he rallies the country to get behind the team like the past few years since Broos took over the reins.

“Yes, we were disappointed and rightfully so, but in today's world and society everyone is an expert you just have to block out the noise, and listen to your coach and the technical team, and the people that know what's going on, just trust one another, and that's what we've built inside of our camp,” Williams added.

"We trust the coach, we trust the technical team, and we trust each other as players, as difficult as it is. The support from the country has been magnificent and amazing over the last few years, we've built that relationship that was once broken, but we've built it up and people shouldn't forget that.

"Yes, criticize it's fine but don't be disrespectful, and also not everything is as bad as it seems. When you're winning everything is not good and when you're losing everything is not broken, so you learn from this and you grow, that's the nature of sport, it always gives you another opportunity to be better and the game against Mexico, lot of lessons, lot mistakes and lot of things that will help us.

"You never know, maybe that's something that had to happen for us to be even better going into the tournament, so we deal with it, we get on, and we just keep focus. We are a group that sticks together and we've had meetings about social media so many times, we try to block out the noise, as much as you can't, it's there for all to see but we just try and be strong mentally.

Bafana will tackle Czech Republic in matchday two of their World Cup campaign, with the clash set to be staged at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in the United States of America on Thursday (18h00).

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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