Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos named a 23-player squad for this month’s friendly against Zambia in Gqeberha that has the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Morocco in December and January in mind.
The venue of Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium for the friendly on November 15 (6pm) was confirmed at the announcement on Thursday.
Broos named a number of his regulars, though he hinted the match might also be used to give some of the newer players who have been introduced to the squad in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the second half of 2025 a last chance for experience and to put their names forward for the final Afcon squad.
Bafana qualified for next year’s World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the US with their 3-0 win against Rwanda in Mbombela last month.
There were no real surprises in the squad.
Why only one game? It’s because of the overloaded programme in the PSL now. Teams are playing every two days ... I would rather have one good game than two and risk fatigue for the players
— Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach
Broos said Zambia will also provide the right opposition in preparation for Afcon.
“Why an African team again? I saw some stories in the media about why we are not playing a South American team or whatever. It’s because we are preparing for Afcon now, not the World Cup,” the Belgian said.
It is also “the last game where we can give chances to a few new players” before the Nations Cup.
“Why only one game? It’s because of the overloaded programme in the PSL now. Teams are playing every two days, and I wanted to save the players a bit from playing two more games for the national team. I would rather have one good game than two and risk fatigue for the players.”
Bafana enjoyed their best finish of third in last year’s Nations Cup in Ivory Coast, and, with a long period of form and a further confidence-boosting first World Cup qualification other than as hosts in 23 years, might even be considered dark horses in Morocco.
South Africa are in Group B of the Nations Cup with Egypt, Angola and Zimbabwe. A friendly against Zambia, given Bafana have two Southern African teams in their group, makes sense from that perspective.
Bafana Bafana final squad here:
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