2026 World Cup: South Africa Denies Choosing Candidate

The South African Football Federation (SAFA) has denied in a statement the information published by several media stating that South Africa’s support for the Moroccan bid for the hosting right of the 2026 World Cup.

“No decision has been made at this stage about any support. No press conference has been organized since the presentation of the two dossiers,” writes SAFA.

The statement refers to the candidacy file of Morocco, and that presented by the trio Mexico, United States of America and Canada.

“Neither the SAFA officials nor the president of the [South African Football] League have mentioned this subject. And that’s how it is today,” say football officials in South Africa.

“The +United 2026+ nomination was presented to us at a meeting of COSAFA in Johannesburg by President Sunil Gulati. Then, the Federation (SAFA, NDLR) received two of the ambassadors of Morocco-2026, Joseph-Antoine Bell and the former Senegalese international El Hadj Diouf, who presented him the candidature file”, adds the organ in-charge of South African football.

According to the statement, South African leaders were instructed to vote for the “most interesting” bid at the FIFA Congress scheduled for June 13 in Moscow.

South Africa is the only African country to have organized the World Cup.

The current president of the SAFA, Danny Jordaan, had ensured a smooth running of the 2010 World Cup, in his capacity as chairman of the organizing committee of the competition.

For the 2026 World Cup, Morocco, which has the support of CAF, will be opposed to the “United 2026”, the candidacy presented by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.

States have already organized the 1994 World Cup on their own. Mexico was the organizing country for the 1986 World Cup.