A VIDEO clip of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sharing his memories of 2010, when South Africa hosted the World Cup, and fondly referencing Durban, has been circulating on social media.

This comes as South Africa’s national football team, Bafana Bafana, will on Thursday (June 11) take on Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Kick-off is scheduled for 21.00 South African time.

The fixture, set to be played in Mexico City, is reminiscent of the 2010 opener at Soccer City (commonly known as FNB Stadium), which ended with a 1 – 1 draw between the two countries, with Bafana Bafana’s goal coming from a historic strike by Simphiwe Tshabalala.  

Bafana Bafana go into the encounter with El Tri, the nickname of Mexico’s national football team, as the underdogs.

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The South African side drew their last two preparation games with a recent 1 – 1 draw against Jamaica and 0 – 0 one before that against Nicaragua.

 Mexico, on the other hand, has gone unbeaten in eight successive friendlies this year, including a 2 – 0 win over Ghana.

This is what Mamdani, in part, said: “I will always remember being 18 years old and watching the 2010 World Cup with friends in Durban, South Africa. The sound of endless vuvuzelas. The freedom of playing beach soccer on the sand. The smell of meat cooking on the braai. Those memories are some that I will never forget.”

Watch the video clip here:

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