World Cup: Africa's three most memorable opening matches!

16.06.26 FT World Cup

France

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Senegal

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In the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, South Africa will face the host nation Mexico on Thursday, June 11, in the first round of Group A.

The Bafana Bafana will be making their fourth appearance in a World Cup finals.

The 2006 AFCON champions will be aiming to advance past the group stage for the first time, having fallen short in their previous attempts in 1998, 2002, and 2010.

Let's look back at the three most iconic opening matches by African teams on football's biggest stage.

Cameroon 1-0 Argentina (World Cup 1990)

In their World Cup debut in 1990, Cameroon faced a daunting challenge against reigning world champions Argentina, led by Diego Maradona.

The Indomitable Lions seemed to be on a mission impossible, but under the leadership of Valeriy Nepomnyashchiy, they displayed extraordinary fighting spirit.

Capitalizing on a cross from Cyrille Makanaky, former Club América striker François Omam-Biyik netted the only goal of this historic clash.

With the evergreen Roger Milla leading the way, Cameroon advanced all the way to the quarter-finals before bowing out to England in a dramatic 3-2 defeat.

Senegal 1-0 France (World Cup 2002)

The Lions sent shockwaves through the football world in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, defeating defending champions France by the slimmest of margins.

Completely unfazed by a star-studded French squad, especially their formidable attacking trio (Sylvain Wiltord, David Trezeguet, and Thierry Henry), Senegal showed remarkable determination.

They clinched the opener 1-0, thanks to a goal from the late Papa Bouba Diop, set up by El-Hadji Diouf.

South Africa 1-1 Mexico (World Cup 2010)

Without quite matching the heroics of Cameroon and Senegal, Bafana Bafana managed to hold Mexico to a draw in their opening game of the 2010 World Cup.

Just like François Omam-Biyik in 1990 and Papa Bouba Diop in 2002, former Kaizer Chiefs star Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the tournament's first goal in 2010.

With a record of one win, one draw, and one loss, South Africa finished the group stage with just 4 points, not enough to progress to the knockout rounds.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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