Bafana Bafana in big final push for World Cup glory

‘I know I should not do that. But what do you want? I want to win. I want to go to America next year.”

So said Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos in a press conference after his team earned a precious point against Nigeria in a 1-1 draw in the latest round of 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

Broos had been asked what caused a second-half heated exchange between him and the Nigerian bench during the battle of Bloemfontein. The coach said he had signalled to the Nigerians, telling them they talk too much.

A remorseful Broos said it was tension and nerves that drove his actions on Tuesday, 9 September. There was eventually a truce between the Belgian and his counterpart, Éric Chelle.

Half-full glass

As unsavoury as it was, Broos’s clash with the Nigerians is clear evidence of how desperate he is to help Bafana Bafana qualify for their first World Cup since 2010.

The draw kept South Africa marginally ahead of second-placed Benin in group C. With eight out of 10 World Cup qualification matches played, Bafana Bafana top the mini-league with 17 points to Benin’s 14.

Although South Africa would have loved a victory against the Super Eagles, Broos said he was satisfied with the point picked up and the 3-0 win over Lesotho in this round.

“The performance that my team had in the Nigeria game makes me enormously proud. It was not good football, not at all. But the way my players fought for every metre and every ball is nice to see for a coach,” he said.

Major strides

When Broos was appointed as South Africa’s head coach in May 2021, many detractors questioned the merits of bringing in a foreign coach on the brink of retirement, especially when South African legend Benni McCarthy was available to coach, having acquired the relevant qualifications.

Pitso Mosimane was touted as another possible replacement for Molefi Ntseki, who was dismissed when Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The name of two-time Afcon-winning French coach Hervé Renard was also mentioned in the search for the next brave person who would try to resuscitate Bafana Bafana. In the end, the South African Football Association (Safa) settled on Broos.

His doubters said the Belgian (now 73) was coming to South Africa to plump up his bank account one last time before retirement. Safa, for all its failures as a federation, backed Broos. It pointed out that he had won the 2017 Afcon with an unfancied Cameroon team, and had years of coaching experience at club level.

Previously, Safa had opted for internationally recognised coaches such as Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira and local heavyweights including Gordon Igesund and Pitso Mosimane. The results were mixed for Bafana Bafana and they certainly were nothing close to the success achieved by Clive Barker with the team in the 1990s.

Broos the builder

When Broos arrived Bafana Bafana were low on confidence and devoid of personality, and were the punchline of many jokes. With the side in that state, and with Broos having nothing to prove since he was at the end of his career, it was a match made in heaven by the soccer gods. 

“After South Africa did not qualify for the Afcon, this is the moment to start to rebuild a younger team, which may have some difficulties to qualify for the next World Cup, but will be ready maybe to play an important role one year later in Afcon,” Broos said upon his appointment in 2021.

This turned out to be a prophetic statement, as Bafana Bafana narrowly missed out on reaching the third and final round of qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

However, they did not waste that momentum as they qualified for the 2023 Afcon. There they clinched bronze – the team’s first major tournament medal since finishing third at the 2000 Afcon.

This Afcon run was important in restoring the aura that Bafana Bafana had gradually lost during two decades of regression. Under Broos, this team can compete. The South Africans are not a superpower by any means, just a carefully crafted team whose players fight for one another, for their country and for Broos.

This Bafana Bafana team is far from a finished product, but it is a unit. Even the fringe players on whom the technical team calls in emergencies fit seamlessly into the side. 

“I don’t complain about the players who are not there, because I want to have a real team, so that if someone falls out, we have another one. We have succeeded in that,” said Broos.

“I’m proud that we have built a team like this. We don’t have to be afraid any more when someone is injured, suspended or whatever. That makes us really strong at the moment.

“So, let’s go on and try to win [and book our ticket to the World Cup] as soon as possible. It will be a very big party when we achieve it.”

Final push

In October, Bafana Bafana will have one final push in their bid to end their World Cup participation drought. Victories over Zimbabwe and Rwanda will do the job, even if they are docked three points by Fifa for fielding a suspended Teboho Mokoena in their qualification victory against Lesotho in early 2025.

Fifa has yet to make any pronouncements on South Africa’s punishment for the administrative lapse, even as the global governing body faces mounting pressure from Bafana Bafana’s rivals to speak out and end the uncertainty. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.