The beginning of the next Bafana Bafana cycle and path that perhaps even leads to qualification for the 2026 World Cup starts with unusual optimism, with friendly matches against Andorra and Algeria in North Africa in the next seven days.
Bafana play matches in the new Fifa Series against Andorra at Stade du 19 Mai 1956 in Annaba on Thursday and Algeria at Stade de Nelson Mandela in Algiers on March 26 (both 11pm SA time).
There have been the usual hiccups. Mamelodi Sundowns’ seven players, the core of the team that won the Africa Cup of Nations bronze in Ivory Coast last month, were set to arrive late on Tuesday night because of their club’s Nedbank Cup win against Maritzburg United on Sunday. Siyabonga Ngezana, the former Kaizer Chiefs centreback now at FCSB in Romania, lost his travel documents. Broos had raved about his form in Eastern Europe and was keen to introduce Ngezana back to Bafana in a friendly environment.
But the best Nations Cup campaign in 24 years still has Bafana in a buoyant mood as they look for wins against 164th-ranked Andorra and 43rd-ranked Algeria, while introducing fresh talent ahead of two huge 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe in June.
Bafana have broken into Africa’s top 10 — in 10th — for the first time in decades and are ranked 58th in the world. They need to take forward those positive factors, the momentum and confidence from their Nations Cup campaign. If they can, there is a chance of a first World Cup qualification, other than as hosts, since 2002 from a Group C where Nigeria started with disastrous draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
“I think it’s very important to go from what we achieved at Afcon,” Broos said from Algeria on Tuesday. “It’s not enough to win third place and to be 10th now in the African ranking and then in two or three months we are back down to 13th.
“So we have to go on now and with good results try to maybe even have a better place in the rankings. That means friendly games also become important. So we will try in these two games to have good results and to win some points again, maybe to have a better ranking.”
New faces
DStv Premiership second-top scorer Khanyisa Mayo of Cape Town City, midfielders Goodman Mosele of Chippa United and Grant Margeman of SuperSport United and forwards Iqraam Rayners of Stellenbosch FC, Mlondi Mbanjwa of AmaZulu and Elias Mokwana of Sekhukhune United are among the fresh faces in Algeria.
Polokwane City forward Oswin Appollis, who had a handful of minutes in Ivory Coast, will look for a chance to impress with more game time. Orlando Pirates' Patrick Maswanganyi is being named as a potential successor for 34-year-old Themba Zwane, if he can show potential at international level.
“We know the qualities of the new players who are here but there is a big difference between playing in Premier Soccer League games and international games for Bafana,” Broos said.
“When we were at Afcon even the Sundowns players told me that there is even a big difference between those games and Caf Champions League games.
It’s better to start sooner than at the moment when you see those players can no longer give you enough and that’s what we are doing now. We are trying to find younger players for almost all positions, players you can work on and who show they can perform at international level
— Hugo Broos
“Therefore I think we can use these two friendly games to see if those players can perform at the level needed for international games. And if they don’t and the result is not good, OK, it’s not good and we just lose a friendly game. It would be worse if we had the same thing in June [losing against Nigeria or Zimbabwe] and maybe not qualify for the World Cup.
Opportunity to introduce new players
“I think it’s the best opportunity now to introduce new players. And it’s up to the players to show me they can perform at that level and we can count on them for the future.
“Maybe Themba will be fit and then there is no problem. But with Themba there will be one day where you see it’s the end. That happens when you are at that age — and we have some players who are near 30 and over. So you have to start thinking about replacing them.
“It’s better to start soon with that than at the moment when you see those players can no longer give you enough and that’s what we are doing now. We are trying to find younger players for almost all positions, players you can work on and who show they can perform at international level.
“That’s what we are trying to do now, without naming players or saying which positions we are looking at. I think most people know which players are around 30. I’m not saying we will replace them now, but we have to start to see, if the moment arrives, who can replace those players.”
The Fifa Series is the global body's new invitation event that will take place in even years. It “will be contested by national teams who don’t normally have the opportunity to play each other”, its website says. “The ultimate objective of the Fifa Series is to allow more international football interaction, making a concrete contribution to global football development.”
For Bafana, the series offers the chance to reset their focus and aim for a place at Mexico, US and Canada 2026's first 48-team World Cup.
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