The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off soon with a battle between two Group A contenders, Mexico and South Africa. Mexico, a host in 2026, has a deep Cold War connection to FIFA, having hosted two World Cups during the Cold War period, 1970 and 1986. In fact, the 1970 games go down in history. This was the year the tournament introduced the Adidas “Telstar” ball, the first officially branded World Cup ball, and it was also the first year that the games were globally televised. What’s more, in a NY Times article titled, The 10 Most Important World Cup Games Ranked, number one is the 1970 final between Brazil and Italy. According to the Times:
The Brazil team that won the World Cup in 1970 is widely considered the best in international history, with the side immortalised by a glorious style of play, the advent of colour television and their blazing yellow shirts.
Their apotheosis came in the blazing afternoon heat of Mexico City on June 21, 1970, when they blew Italy away with a performance of unmatched beauty — summed up by their fourth and final goal, which saw captain Carlos Alberto finishing off a stunning team move with a thunderous strike.
South Africa, on the other hand, was largely excluded from the World Cup during the Cold War. A racially divided country, the majority black population was ruled by a white minority through a system called APARTHEID. FIFA suspended and ultimately expelled South Africa for its apartheid policies, resulting in the country being absent from most World Cup activities during the Cold War.
The rough timeline is:
- 1961 – South Africa was suspended from FIFA because its football associations were racially segregated.
- 1963 – Suspension was briefly lifted after lobbying by South African officials.
- 1964 – FIFA reimposed the suspension.
- 1976 – South Africa was formally expelled from FIFA.
- 1992 – South Africa was readmitted after the dismantling of apartheid began and negotiations toward majority rule were underway.
Through a Cold War Lens
As we know, the United States saw the Cold War as a global struggle against communism. The United States government and a significant portion of its citizenry considered communism an evil force in the world, one to be combated with all available ideological, military, and financial means.
South Africa
For several centuries before World War II, South Africa’s center of the political universe was Great Britain. After the war, however, this focus was replaced by the United States. South African pilots participated in the Berlin airlift of 1948-1949. Later, a squadron flew ground attack and interdiction missions as part of the US Air Force’s 18th Fighter Bomber Wing in the Korean War.
Fear of Communism haunted the white minority government from the 1950s to the collapse of single-party rule in Eastern Europe in 1989. Anti-communism informed almost every aspect of the South African government’s foreign policy and much of its domestic policy during this timeframe.
In contrast, the impoverished black majority in South Africa looked to the Soviet Union and its allies for intellectual and financial support. In fact, South Africa and Egypt had been the first two countries in Africa to give rise to Communist parties — both in the 1920s.
From America’s perspective, however, the core concern in South Africa was not ‘communism’ or ‘anti-communism.’ Instead, the US was worried about whether the minority regime had access to nuclear weapons. As it turns out, they did. But although they manufactured seven fission gun-type devices, these were never used, and South Africa signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on July 10, 1991.
Africa’s Colonies
The 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the end of Portuguese colonial rule in Africa. Angola, a former colony, entered into a decades-long civil war. The superpowers and South Africa were quickly drawn into the conflict, which became a flash point for the Cold War. Three main guerrilla groups, the FNLA, MPLA, and UNITA, were fighting each other, and the country was well on its way to being divided into zones controlled by rival armed political groups. The United States, Portugal, Brazil, and South Africa supported the FNLA and UNITA. The Soviet Union and Cuba supported the MPLA.
After a short period of stability, another former colony, Mozambique, also entered into a devastating civil war. Their new government gave shelter and support to the South African liberation movement, the African National Congress.
The End of Apartheid
By 1989 when the Berlin Wall was breached, the continuing conflict involving South Africa had grown domestically untenable. Western multinationals were pressured by the stigma attached to investing in APARTHEID South Africa and the negative effect it had on their corporate image. So far as the US was concerned, South Africa had lost its pivotal role.
The Soviet Union no longer had any desire to be involved in expensive wars abroad.
Multiparty democracy was the only way forward. The success of South Africa in ending apartheid and moving forward as a multiracial democracy is evident in its ability to host and promote the South Africa World Cup Soccer event in 2010.
Mexico
Mexico, America’s close neighbor, took a much less critical view of communism and was less likely to associate all things communist with the Soviet Union. As a result, Mexicans viewed the Cold War not as a principled crusade, but as an example of aggression by imperialist states whose financial and military power allowed them to dominate less developed countries.
Hemispheric unity was shaken when Mexico decided that snubbing Russia’s client, Cuba, was not worth the risk. Mexico’s government maintained diplomatic and economic relations with the island nation over the objections of the United States.
The Sound of the Vuvuzela, the Roar of Mexico
Returning to our deep dive into The Consumerist World Cup, here’s a comparison of the two countries’ relationship to Adidas and FIFA during the Cold War.
Mexico
Mexico 1970 was the breakthrough moment for Adidas and FIFA. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico introduced the Adidas “Telstar” ball — the first officially branded FIFA World Cup ball. That tournament effectively institutionalized the Adidas–FIFA commercial partnership.
Mexico 1970 was the first globally televised World Cup. Adidas designed the Telstar’s black-and-white pattern specifically for television visibility.
Mexico’s tournament became a Cold War media spectacle broadcast across both Western and socialist countries.
The Mexican national team became part of Adidas’ visual football identity.
Even before formal long-term kit deals, Mexico’s image — green shirts, Azteca Stadium, huge television audiences — became central to FIFA’s expanding commercial ecosystem.
Mexico 1986 deepened the Adidas–FIFA model with official balls, centralized sponsorships, television-rights packaging, and multinational advertising campaigns.
The Azteca Stadium was symbolically important as one of FIFA’s iconic venues, hosting both the 1970 and 1986 finals. Adidas branding became increasingly integrated into those spectacles.
Mexico’s federation later entered long-term Adidas kit partnerships. Adidas formally supplied the Mexican national team from 1982 to 1990, returning in 1996, and again from 2007 onward.
Mexico served as FIFA’s bridge into Latin American markets. During the Cold War, FIFA and Adidas saw Latin America as commercially and politically strategic. Mexico’s proximity to the United States and its football culture made it especially valuable.
South Africa
As previously discussed, South Africa is more complicated than most other nations because apartheid-era isolation limited its relationship with FIFA.
South Africa was largely excluded from FIFA during apartheid. The country was suspended from FIFA in 1961 and expelled in 1976 because of apartheid policies. That meant there was no major FIFA–Adidas–South Africa triangle during most of the Cold War. This exclusion mattered commercially.
Adidas’ Cold War soccer strategy depended on FIFA tournaments and international federations. Since apartheid South Africa was isolated from FIFA competition, it was not central to Adidas’ global football business from the 1960s to the 1980s.
The contrast with Mexico is significant. Mexico became a showcase country for FIFA globalization, while South Africa became an example of how geopolitics could exclude nations from that system.
South Africa re-entered world football after the Cold War. FIFA readmitted South Africa in 1992, after apartheid began collapsing. The major Adidas relationship with South African soccer is therefore mostly a post-Cold War phenomenon.
The 2010 World Cup symbolically completed the transition. Adidas supplied the official World Cup ball (“Jabulani”) for the first FIFA World Cup held in Africa, hosted by South Africa.
Adidas later used South Africa heavily in heritage marketing. Modern Adidas campaigns frequently reference the emotional legacy of the 2010 tournament and “Bafana Bafana” identity.
Conclusion
Mexico and South Africa became symbolically linked in FIFA history.
Mexico hosted the breakthrough television World Cups of the Cold War era; South Africa hosted the post-apartheid “global inclusion” World Cup in 2010.
Both countries now function as heritage brands within Adidas football culture. Adidas regularly revisits retro Mexico and South Africa designs because both carry strong emotional associations with major FIFA eras.facebook.
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Click here for the New York Times listing of the World Cup’s most important games.
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