Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his charges deserve to go to the FIFA World Cup in North America next year after working extremely hard to put themselves in contention in the last two years.
The South African senior men’s national team assembled in Roodepoort, Johannesburg, on Monday morning ahead of their away World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday, 10 October 2025. They will wrap up their qualifying campaign when they host Rwanda in the last qualifier at the Mbombela Stadium, in Mpumalanga, on Tuesday, 14 October 2025. Both matches will be played at 18h00.
“There are no doubts, there have never been any doubts from my side, and I will try to transfer this to the players at a meeting we will have on Tuesday,” he said.
“I believe in this group and I am sure that they will do everything in their power to win that game on Friday. Why should we doubt ourselves now after our performances in the qualifiers? If there is a team that deserves to go to the World Cup, it is South Africa.”
Relebohile Mofokeng was withdrawn from the squad on Monday due to injury and Mduduzi Shabalala was called up as his replacement. Shabalala is already in camp and attended training in the afternoon. Lyle Foster and Sphephelo Sithole are the only outstanding players, and they are expected in camp on Tuesday.
The team will remain in Johannesburg until Thursday. They will travel to Durban on Thursday morning ahead of Friday night’s match against Zimbabwe. Broos’ charges will then fly to Mbombela on Saturday morning to prepare for Tuesday’s final showdown against Rwanda.
