Brazilian refs for Bafana opener

South Africa’s opening game at the World Cup against co-hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday will be handled by a Brazilian team of officials led by Wilton Sampaio.

He will have compatriots Bruno Pires and Bruno Boschila running the line with Juan Gabriel Cardoso of Paraguay as the fourth official.

The VAR team is headed by Nicolas Gallo from Colombia with Juan Lara of Chile and Jérôme Brisard of France as assistants.

It is a second World Cup for Sampaio, who took charge of four matches in Qatar four years ago, including France’s quarterfinal triumph over England.

The 44-year-old Sampaio, who is not scared to flash a red card or two, is well known to Mexican fans because he handled matches involving two of their clubs at last year’s Club World Cup in the U.S.

He also took charge of Mexico’s win over Jamaica at the 2016 Copa America.

Brazil is the country with the largest number of referees at the 2026 World Cup, with three officials selected – Sampaio, Ramon Abatti and Raphael Claus – and six linesmen.