World Cup 2026: Ronwen Williams urges focus on football amid rising backlash against South Africa

South Africa captain Ronwen Williams has appealed for criticism of the national team to remain strictly within the boundaries of football, urging that political and social tensions should not be directed at players.

His comments come against the backdrop of rising xenophobic violence in South Africa in recent weeks, which has drawn condemnation across the continent and sparked reactions that have spilled into football discourse.

Some African supporters have also expressed frustration toward the Bafana Bafana during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including scenes in Ghana where fans were seen celebrating South Africa’s 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

Speaking ahead of South Africa’s Group A clash against Czechia on Thursday, June 18, Williams stressed the need to separate sport from politics.

“As Africa, we are one. We support each other in good and bad moments; we’ve got our own politics, we’ve got our own problems, we’ve got our fights that we deal with back home,” he said.

“It does hurt because I’ve been attacked obviously my country as well for things that are going on back home. Players are human beings as well. For us, sometimes it gets a lot. You want to focus on doing your job which is being a footballer. Leave politics to the politicians… let us just play football, enjoy football and criticize for what happens on the field,” Williams added.

South Africa, who began their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Mexico, will be targeting their first win when they face Czech Republic in their next Group A fixture.