Bafana at Nigeria’s mercy, says Broos as World Cup hopes suffer hammer blow

After their disappointing 0-0 draw in their penultimate qualifier against Zimbabwe in Durban on Friday, the irony of Bafana Bafana’s dream to make it to the 2026 Fifa World Cup is that it’s no longer in their hands but that of their nemesis Nigeria.

Going to the last matches on Tuesday Bafana, on 15 points, trail leaders Benin (17) by two points while Nigeria, on 14 points, can still fancy their chances at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo as long as they beat Benin and Bafana lose to Rwanda at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga on Tuesday.

That scenario has given Bafana coach Hugo Broos little hope that despite his team suffering because of poor administration by the SA Football Association, Bafana can still qualify for the World Cup.

Bafana were docked three points by Fifa earlier this month for fielding an ineligible Teboho Mokoena in their 2-0 win against Lesotho in Limpopo in March.

Lesotho were eventually awarded a 3-0 victory which robbed Bafana of three points that could have kept them on top of Group C on 18 points even after their draw against Zimbabwe on Friday.

“We played against a very motivated team who fought for every metre and every ball,” said Broos of Zimbabwe who were using Friday’s encounter as part of their preparation for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations where they’ll meet Bafana again.

“It was a little bit strange (the way Zimbabwe fought), but it’s OK, it can happen and that shows again the relations between these two teams, certainly when they play against each other.”

Having accepted the point and the fact that Benin are now in pole position and will qualify with victory over the Super Eagles, Broos admitted it’s no longer in Bafana’s hands but all they can do is win their game against the Rwandans and hope the other result in Uyo goes their way.

“It’s still possible but it becomes more difficult than today. We have to go to that match believing that maybe with a little miracle on Tuesday we can still qualify.”

That little miracle will certainly be realised if Bafana beat Rwanda and Nigeria do them a huge favour by beating fellow West Africans, Benin in Uyo.

“It’s not (qualification) 100% lost, it can still happen. It will be very important what happens in the game between Nigeria and Benin. We’ll see what the result will be there.

“But on the other side we don’t really have to look. If we win our game we’ll see what happens. That’s the most important thing.

“It’s possible, we have to believe. We’ll be down in one or two days and we’ll do everything to again have a team who believes in it on Tuesday.”

Whether Nigeria likes it or not they will be forced on Tuesday to go for a victory because a win with three clear goals will see them finish ahead of Benin no matter what Bafana does against Rwanda.

Benin are currently +5 on goal difference while Nigeria are +3, meaning if they finish on 17 points the team with a better goal difference would finish as runners-up to Bafana (18 points) and go to play-offs that could still help them qualify.

“It’s a good thing that Nigeria can even be first now,” said Broos.

“They have to win against Benin in the last game. The biggest danger is now Benin. If we win, OK, Nigeria cannot be over us but if we don’t win and Benin lose then it will be the goal difference between them and Nigeria that decides the group. This is something we have to believe in even if it’s difficult.

“It will really be disappointing if Nigeria wins against Benin and we don’t win against Rwanda and by that defeat we should miss the World Cup.

“That’s why today it’s a very sad evening, but there’s still hope. But we have to try to take the big chance that we have on Tuesday.”

Depending on what other teams do in their final matches was never in Broos’ plans as Bafana had only lost one match in their nine previous qualifiers (if the Lesotho game is excluded), but now that’s the reality of his team’s fate.

“Even if we win our game, we still need something in our favour on the other pitch in Nigeria,” admitted the 73-year-old Broos who represented his country, Belgium, in the 1984 World Cup in Mexico.

“If the result is positive, with Nigeria beating Benin, we still have a chance to qualify.”

Bafana left for Mpumalanga on Saturday morning to start preparation for Rwanda where they will be minus defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi who got a last-minute red card against Zimbabwe.