Long-simmering tensions over xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa boiled over into the global football spotlight this week, as fans from across the continent turned a World Cup group stage match into a platform to protest deadly attacks on foreign nationals. For months, South Africa has been roiled by violent anti-immigrant demonstrations targeting migrant workers from other African nations, with locals accusing foreign residents of displacing native workers in the country’s tight labor market. The unrest has already claimed two confirmed lives—both Mozambican citizens, aged 27 and 43—forced hundreds of vulnerable migrants to abandon their homes and flee for safety, and unleashed a wave of hateful xenophobic rhetoric across South African social media platforms.
The flashpoint for continental pushback came on Thursday, when South Africa kicked off its 1970 World Cup campaign against co-host Mexico at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. Far from seeing the match as an opportunity for African football solidarity, fans from across the continent gathered in the stands and online to openly back Mexico, turning their frustration with South Africa’s anti-migrant violence into visible, public protest.
One viral post from Gambian football outlet Gamfoot Transfers shared footage of a group of fans who identified themselves as Nigerians outside the stadium, all decked out in Mexico’s iconic national team kit, nicknamed El Tri. “We are Mexicans today!” one supporter declared to the camera. The post’s caption made clear the political motivation behind the unexpected show of support: “Today many Africans are supporting Mexico, not necessarily because they have a special connection with Mexico, but because of the frustration and anger over how some African brothers and sisters have been treated in South Africa.”
Inside the stadium, additional footage captured Congolese fans chanting pro-Mexico slogans in Spanish, declaring “Congo hermano, ya eres mexicano” — “Congo brother, you are already Mexican” — and “Viva Mexico!” while waving Mexican flags alongside their Congolese banners. Other social media content shared in the wake of the match included lighthearted but pointed trolling of South Africa, including jokes blending African and Hispanic names to mark the cross-continental alliance against xenophobia.
The current wave of violence accelerated after a citizen-led anti-immigration group focused on undocumented migration issued an ultimatum earlier this month, ordering all foreign nationals without formal residency status to leave South Africa by the June 30 deadline. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pushed back against the unauthorized campaign, stating publicly that only official government agents have the authority to enforce immigration law. At the same time, Ramaphosa has acknowledged that the economic grievances driving anti-immigrant sentiment among South Africans “deserve to be heard, and they deserve to be addressed,” a stance that has drawn criticism from migrant advocates and other African nations.
To date, many African governments have moved quickly to evacuate their citizens from the violence rather than engage in high-level diplomatic pressure to resolve the crisis. Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi and Nigeria have already organized repatriation flights for hundreds of their nationals who fled the unrest, leaving empty homes and abandoned communities in affected South African areas.
Mexico went on to defeat South Africa 2-0 in the Thursday match, a result that was celebrated far beyond North American borders by fans across the African continent, turned political by months of unresolved anti-migrant violence that has split what is often framed as pan-African solidarity.