Bafana Bafana’s path to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup is going to have so many twists and turns, as we’ve seen in just the two matches they’ve played.
Hugo Broos’s team has three points from a possible six and there’s eight matches to come before we know if this team has qualified for the global showpiece for first time in over 20 years.
Bafana’s journey started well on Saturday with Broos’s team registering a 2-1 victory over Benin but their 2-0 loss against Rwanda is not entirely surprising, even though it’s never nice to lose against a lowly-ranked opposition. In this group Bafana’s nemesis Nigeria have already been humbled by Zimbabwe and Lesotho, teams they would normally beat.
The Nigerians complained of being underprepared when they faced Lesotho last Friday, but, like Bafana against Rwanda on Tuesday, the state the pitch at Huye Stadium in Butare, had a lot to do with how they ended up drawing 1-1 with Zimbabwe.
This shows is that results on the African continent are determined by many factors, other than an ability to perform. Players not coming to camp because of arduous travel distances from their European clubs, travelling to away matches on the continent, the unsuitability of pitches, are some of the main factors that contribute to shock results like the Bafana and Nigeria’s. I mean who wouldn’t get tired if you had to travel three hours by a bus after you’ve flown to the country where you have a match to play the following day? That’s what Bafana and Nigeria had to do before facing Rwanda and Zimbabwe, who had already spent days in Butare after they had faced each other at the same stadium last Wednesday.
It certainly won’t be to Nigeria’s liking to see South Africa playing so many World Cup qualifiers at home towards the business end of the 2026 qualifying campaign, but it’s certainly not our fault.
For Broos’s team, the journey to qualify should be a whole lot less stressful after last week’s round of matches. Bafana have two away trips to Nigeria and Benin remaining instead of four. The reason is that our neighbours Lesotho and Zimbabwe don’t have stadium approved by Caf to be used in these qualifiers. But if Caf really cares, Rwanda should not have been granted a right to host teams in Butare, an artificial pitch that Broos said was probably 20 or 25 years old.
Bafana will play both and away matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in SA.
Caf needs to take decisive decisions about countries like Rwanda who can’t provide proper stadiums with decent pitches. You can’t face so many troubles as football team to play your opponent. Such things are never heard of in some parts of the world, particularly Europe, because every country has as many decent facilities and almost all those facilities are close to an airport, so there’s no need for a horrendous road journey after landing.
Ahead of Bafana’s trip to Rwanda, Broos did suggest that countries like Zimbabwe and Lesotho should not be allowed to play in these qualifiers if they don’t have a suitable home venue. The Bafana coach called Caf authorities to give countries like Zimbabwe and Lesotho a certain period to build their stadium, and if they don’t, then they're taken out of Caf and Fifa competitions because they obviously don’t comply.
There will always be complaints if a certain country plays most of its qualifiers and home when they’re supposed to play away. It certainly won’t be to Nigeria’s liking to see South Africa playing so many World Cup qualifiers at home towards the business end of the 2026 qualifying campaign, but it’s certainly not our fault.
So before anyone blames Broos and his players for the defeat against Rwanda, they must first look at the conditions they faced before reaching Huye Stadium in Butare and the kind of pitch they had to play on. This is not an excuse for the results they got but it’s only fair to look at all the factors before we apportion blame on the coach and the team that had gone 12 matches unbeaten before the loss against Rwanda.
Our next World Cup qualifier is away to Nigeria in June next year and that should give Broos plenty of time to plan for that trip and prepare well.
Now for Bafana it is back to the business of preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast in January. A good showing there will obviously give Broos a strong team to resume World Cup qualifiers in June next year. For now, I wouldn’t panic based on Bafana’s first two World Cup qualifiers. There are too many matches to play before we bring out those calculators.
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