Pachuca (Mexico) − Bafana Bafana’s training base for the 2026 Fifa World Cup will be in Pachuca, Mexico, the SA Football Association announced yesterday.
Pachuca is about 95km outside Mexico City, where Bafana meet the co-hosts at the iconic 87,000-seat Etadio Azteca in the World Cup’s opening game on June 11.
It is about 930km south by road, or a one-and-a-half-hour flight, from Guadalupe, Mexico, where South Africa meet South Korea in their third Group A game on June 24.
Bafana’s second match is on June 18 against a Uefa Path D playoff winner in Atlanta, Georgia, which is about a four-hour flight from Mexico City.
“Safa has confirmed that Bafana Bafana will be based in Pachuca, Mexico,” the association said. “The team will train at the Universidad del Futbol and coach Hugo Broos is happy with the facilities. The South African senior men’s team will stay at Camino Real Pachuca Hotel, which is a few kilometres away from Pachuca.”
Broos − speaking in Pachuca yesterday, where Safa officials concluded the deal for Bafana’s training base − said he is happy to be based so close to Mexico City, partly for comfortable travel purposes for Bafana’s crucial opening game. Also, notably, the venue will help South Africa adjust to the high altitude for the clash against the hosts.
Mexico City sits at 2,240m above sea level, higher than Johannesburg (1,750m), where the altitude is a factor for sports teams. Pachuca sits at 2,430m.
“Once the composition of the group was known I knew the game against Mexico should be a special game for us. Not because it’s Mexico but because we have to play that game at altitude,” Broos said. - Own Correspondent
