Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster says the pressure is on Nigeria as they prepare to face off in their highly anticipated 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.
Foster, who celebrated his 25th birthday last week, said their fate is in their own hands and it is up to other teams in Group C such as second-placed Benin, Nigeria and Rwanda to catch up to them.
Lesotho and Zimbabwe, who complete the bottom half of the table, are out of the running for places in the tournament to be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada next year.
Both teams go into this crunch clash with motivation after Bafana convincingly beat Lesotho 3-0 on Friday night, while the Super Eagles narrowly prevailed 1-0 over Rwanda at home on Saturday.
“I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure on us,” said Foster.
“I think at the moment we are where we wanted to be in the group and that’s a positive. I think pressure is on the guys who are trying to get to us but that doesn’t mean we should take our foot off the pedal.”
Foster, who plays for Burnley in the English Premiership, said they must keep the same winning mentality when they take on Nigeria.
“I think we should just have the same mentality, keep things steady, take it game by game and stay humble. I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure, pressure is on those who are trying to get to us.
“I think we had a good start but the most important thing is trying to push forward and make sure that we seal it.”
Bafana remain top of Group C with 16 points after seven matches and Nigeria are third with 10 points from the same number of games.
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