“Siyadlula. Siyadlula. Siyadlula [we’ll go through]," Mohau Nkota exclaimed excitedly to the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw that pitted Bafana Bafana in Group A, alongside co-hosts Mexico, South Korea and the yet-to-be-determined fourth opponent.
Since graduating from the Orlando Pirates Diski Development Challenge (DDC) in January 2024, the speedy winger who turned 21 last month has embarked on a meteoric rise, grabbing the attention of the nation with impressive performances for the first team in the Betway Premiership, which caught the eye of Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq FC, who bought him in July.
Capped seven times with two goals after debuting for Bafana in June, Nkota is one of the rising stars of a batch of young guns Hugo Broos has drafted into the national team who have contributed to South Africa’s automatic qualification for a fourth appearance at the quadrennial global showpiece.
Nkota and some of his Bafana teammates, including captain Ronwen Williams, watched the draw in the company of Siphiwe Tshabalala, who sent the country into a frenzy by scoring the first goal of the 2010 World Cup on home soil.
‘I’ll score first goal’
Nkota, then six years old, hopes to emulate Tshabalala on June 11 when Bafana line up against Mexico in the opening match of a competition to be jointly hosted with Canada and the US. “I didn’t even watch the World Cup in 2010. I was still young, playing in the streets,” he said.
“It’s a motivation because I’m with someone who scored in that game. As I talked to him, I promised him that I’ll be [the] one [scoring] the first goal in the Fifa World Cup against Mexico.
“We trust ourselves on the field. We just have to be a unit. We have a great captain in Ronwen. He motivates us. He tells me to just be myself, ‘just do your thing’.”
‘They could not beat us’
Former Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane shares Nkota’s confidence that Broos has built a formidable team capable of helping Bafana break into the knockout stages at the fourth time of asking.
“Broos has got it right. Even with Afcon, we don’t struggle, even with Morocco and Nigeria. So why is it for me to question his selection? It’s just for me to wear my Bafana jersey and support the country ... let’s see what happens in the Afcon now, and then we can comment [on] the tournament before the World Cup. He can always say if I made errors with one or two three players,” he said.
“Mexico, they owe us big time, those ones,” added Mosimane, who was Carlos Alberto Parreira’s assistant when Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico in 2010.
“We had it [the match], and through our mistakes in the last few minutes, they equalised. They have a game like us. They have two players at a high level. But it’s the same as Nigeria, they had plenty of players at [a] high level in Europe but they still could not beat us.”
South Korea will be playing their 11th successive World Cup. They finished fourth during the 2002 finals they co-hosted with Japan and only twice progressed past the group stage, in 2010 and 2022.
“Asians have a proper technique, controlling the ball under pressure, and moving in the right places. They run and give a high tempo to the match. We should be very careful of that. You can’t go to the World Cup 11 times when you aren’t good. Look at [Heung-min] Son, he’s a machine. He was a boss at Spurs.”
Bafana will know the identity of their fourth group opponent on March 31 when the winner of the European playoffs is decided. The semifinals on March 26 will see the Czech Republic play the Republic of Ireland and Denmark go against North Macedonia.
Bafana drew 1-1 with Denmark at France ’98, with Benni McCarthy scoring for coach Philippe Troussier’s side.
“I’m always careful with European teams, whether it’s Denmark or others,” said Mosimane. “Let’s be honest, we don’t have a very strong history against them. Not to say they play better football than us. They just know how to win, how to score. We always show we can outplay them and show potential. But they score from outside the box, [and with] free kicks, they punish you.
“Five points will get you there. A win and two draws. That is the nature of the group. The others have to play against each other. Four points you might sneak in. You have to win a match. The base must be: we win one match and don’t lose the other two.
“I believe in the Bafana mission. The base of Afcon puts a foundation. We got position three in Afcon [the] last time. We need to go to the World Cup on the back of a good Afcon. Broos has got a good product. You can see the players who are there believe in themselves and in him.
“We have four or five months to make changes to bring in new players, but when I see players like [Oswin] Appollis, I say, ‘well done, coach Hugo’. It’s unbelievable. I see Sipho Mbule — what a star player. We can talk about his journey one day.
“If we make the semifinals we go to the final, and if [you] make the final, you might as well win it. These guys have not been lucky to be here. They’ve worked hard for it. I think we can win it.”
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