When Ronwen Williams leads South Africa out at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for the opening match of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the moment will carry a weight far beyond football. The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper will dedicate every step of that walk to his older brother Marvin, who died in a car crash just two months before the 2010 World Cup — the tournament South Africa hosted.
Williams was 18 when Marvin was killed and briefly considered abandoning the sport entirely. He did not. Sixteen years later, he will captain his country in a World Cup opener — and against the same opponents, Mexico, who South Africa faced in that historic 2010 kick-off.
