Tyla performing with some members of the Mzansi Youth Choir at the2026 Fifa World Cup opening ceremony on Thursday night in Mexico City.
Image: X
Tyla sang the national anthem ahead of Bafana Bafana's Fifa World Cup opener against Mexico on Thursday night, but Mzansi says FIFA gave her a two-second guest appearance.
Yoh, imagine telling the whole country that the South African-born Grammy Award-winning superstar is about to perform at the opening ceremony in the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City
The nation are seated. The volume is up. The family WhatsApp group is on standby. Everyone is ready for a proud Mzansi moment.
Then... poof.
The "Pretty Girl From Joburg" sang the South African national anthem ahead of Bafana Bafana's opening 2026 Fifa World Cup clash against Mexico.
Fifa had promoted her appearance before the match and fans were excited to see one of South Africa's biggest exports represent the country on one of the world's biggest stages.
But according to social media, viewers barely got enough time to process what was happening before the cameras moved on.
Instead of celebrating the performance, many South Africans found themselves asking the same question: "Wait, was that it?"
The jokes arrived almost immediately.
Some viewers joked that Tyla got less screen time than the match officials. Others claimed they looked away for one second and missed the entire performance.
A few even suggested Fifa owed the country a replay because there was simply no way that could have been the full moment they had been waiting for.
The frustration was not aimed at Tyla. If anything, fans were proud to see her flying the South African flag on a global stage. The real issue was the broadcast.
Because let's be honest. You cannot tell Mzansi that Tyla is singing at the World Cup and then serve what felt like a teaser trailer.
At this point, South Africans are not looking for highlights from the match (nobody is doing that for mental health reasons). They are looking for the director's cut of Tyla's performance.