Broos has major Bafana goal-scoring headache

Where are goals going to come from for Bafana Bafana at the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada?

This is one of the questions coach Hugo Broos will be asking himself on the chartered flight to Mexico today, where they are going to set up base in Pachuca to continue preparations for the tournament.

While it cannot be classified as a crisis, Broos and his technical staff must be concerned that Bafana fired blanks against modest Central American minnows Nicaragua in their send-off match at Orlando Stadium on Friday.

Bafana failed to find the back of the net despite having used the attacking talents of players like Lyle Foster, Iqraam Rayners, Oswin Appollis, Tshepang Moremi, Themba Zwane, Relebohile Mofokeng and Thapelo Maseko.

In seven matches since the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco, Bafana have scored nine goals, and they must improve against Mexico, Czechia and South Korea in Group A of the tournament.

Dominated possession

Bafana dominated possession and created chances but could not make it count against a team that sits 131 on the Fifa rankings and has an average age of 22-23.

Broos was happy with the performance and the chance to give opportunities to Ricardo Goss, Sipho Chaine, Bradley Cross, Olwethu Makhanya, Thabang Matuludi, Samukele Kabini, Thalente Mbatha, Themba Zwane and Kamogelo Sebelebele.

I had the players since Monday, and for the next four to five weeks we are going to work on things that need to be improved on before the first game

—  Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach

They largely benefited because regular starters like Ronwen Williams, Khuliso Mudau, Aubrey Modiba, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, and Teboho Mokoena were rested after a long season with their clubs.

There’s another planned friendly match against Jamaica in Pachuca, and that will give an idea of which team is going to start the opening match against Mexico on June 11 at the imposing Azteca Stadium.

Broos said they have time to work on their finishing in the days leading up to the opening match and that there’s no need to reach for the panic button yet. “You know very well that goal scoring has been a problem for Bafana Bafana for a long time,” he said after sharing the spoils with Nicaragua.

“It is difficult when Bafana Bafana does not get to score; it was the same even during a period where we scored many goals. We had a few chances in this match, which could have been goals five or six months ago.

“There’s nothing to worry about; this is something that we can recover from quickly. We have players who can score goals, like Foster, Rayners and Evidence Makgopa. There are other attackers like Moremi and Appollis.

“It’s just a question of restoring what we used to have over the next 10 to 11 days of preparation. We have a little bit of time and training in Mexico to do that.

“In this camp, I [have] had the players since Monday, and for the next four to five weeks we are going to work on things that need to be improved on before the first game.”

Broos said they proved in the past they are capable of scoring goals.

“South Africa doesn’t have the real goalscorer, but we have proven in the past that we can solve that problem.”

Broos is confident

South Africa travel to Mexico with the target of getting out of the group and Broos is confident that mission will be achieved.

“We are going there to win points starting with the first match against Mexico. I have said already if you have three points, you should be able to go through to the round of 32.

“In the first game, you have to try and get three points, and the interesting thing about our group is that there’s no big team like Brazil, Spain, Argentina or France.

“We are four teams that are not too different in terms of quality. This means there are three tough games to be played; we just have to believe in ourselves because our opponents are not much better than us.

“If we are afraid and don’t have confidence that we can win against them, it is going to be difficult. We have to believe, and there’s the possibility of winning against one of those teams, and if you have three points, you go through to the next round, which is our mission.”