SOCCER WORLD CUP - 4 JUNE 2026

The Soccer World Cup begins next Thursday. I look forward to watching South Africa play Mexico. On paper, Mexico far outranks Bafana Bafana. But the patriot in me hopes for an upset, which I think would be good for neutral viewers too. This month and next month, I'll also have one eye on the Springboks' Nation Championship matches. As well as the Tour de France, which I've enjoyed watching since I was tiny. Incidentally, an American teenager once asked me on a forum website what South Africans generally call soccer. I'd answered that I had always called it soccer, while my father had always called it football. I am a white English-speaking Durbanite (general European-South-African descent). My wife, who is of mixed descent, also calls it soccer. In short, across the board. Nobody of any aspect of the Rainbow Nation cares whether you say soccer or football. One of the very few times I had a conversation with someone who did, every time I said 'soccer' he would reply with a sentence that stressed the word 'football'. I took it from 'whence it comes' as the old saying goes. He was a pig-headed twit, so I enjoyed irking him by pretending I didn't catch on to what he was doing. Anyway, a bit of trivia and humour. I'll be glued to my TV screen next Thursday night.