{"id":36542,"date":"2026-06-08T19:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T17:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=36542"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T17:16:16","slug":"former-sa-coach-urges-fans-not-to-panic-before-mexico-clash","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/former-sa-coach-urges-fans-not-to-panic-before-mexico-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Former SA coach urges fans not to panic before Mexico clash \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund has urged football fans not to panic, despite growing anxiety over the national team&#8217;s recent poor form ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup opening match against Mexico this coming Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>South African (SA) supporters are feeling deeply anxious and skeptical after Bafana Bafana failed to win a single one of their last five matches. The team has been winless all year, a slump that stretches back to their Round of 16 exit against Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in January. Recent uninspiring home performances against Panama and Nicaragua have only added to the fans&#8217; lack of confidence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, Igesund insists there is no cause for concern. While acknowledging that the upcoming clash with Mexico will be a massive challenge, he believes current coach Hugo Broos has built a resilient squad capable of overcoming the odds.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Igesund pointed out that the team has already shown great character by navigating a very difficult qualification path, overcoming multiple obstacles and dropped points along the way. With a talented group of players who are highly motivated, the former coach is confident that Bafana Bafana will rise to the occasion and secure a positive result on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36543,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-36542","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Former Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund has urged football fans not to panic","published_date":"2026-06-08 19:14:53","news_description":"Former Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund has urged football fans not to panic","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36544,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36542\/revisions\/36544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=36542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}