The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2026 is taking place starting on June 11, until the final round on July 19, co-hosted by the North American trio of Canada, The USA, and Mexico. There will be sixteen cities involved: two in Canada, eleven in the United States, and three in Mexico. This is the first time that a FIFA World Cup is hosted by three countries, also with an expansion from 32 to 48 teams.
In the past, during World Cups, I have featured traditional dishes from countries playing against Mexico; sometimes, I compared to traditional Mexican dishes, as a way to predict results for the football matches (with a very laggard accuracy of 33%, lol.) In other cases, I have created fusion dishes, with inspiration from food from both countries. This time around, I will stay neutral and will try to find a traditional dish from the opposing country that seems similar to a Mexican dish, as a way to point out that we are all just people, and this is a small world after all.
Mexico is in Group A with South Africa, Korea Republic and Czechia, and its first match is taking place on June 11 against South Africa (Mexico City, 3:00 pm CST.) There are many interesting sounding dishes in South Africa, such as Chakalaka (a vegetable and legume concoction), but the one that caught my attention was Vetkoek, a fried bread that may have savoury or sweet fillings. The word means “fat cake” in Afrikaans and its origin is from Dutch settlers in the 1830s, seeking portable food for their long journeys:
Vetkoeks have become comfort food for many South Africans, either homemade or as a popular street food.
In Mexico, there are several kinds of fried bread, such as sopapillas in the Northern regions, or buñuelos, which are generally sweet treats. However, there is a kind of fried bread that may have savoury fillings, and is considered street food, just like its South African counterpart; it is called pambacito:
For a full story and detailed recipe, check out my post: Mexico City Street Food – Pambacitos
A complete schedule of matches may be found at the official FIFA World Cup 2026 website.
My Slice of Mexico 
