Super Eagles’ threat to Bafana’s 2026 World Cup mission

SA should back themselves against neighbours Zimbabwe, Lesotho

Neville Khoza Sports Journalist
Bafana Bafana scorer Percy Tau and Thapelo Morena celebrate a famous win in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Morocco at FNB Stadium on June 17 2023.
Bafana Bafana scorer Percy Tau and Thapelo Morena celebrate a famous win in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Morocco at FNB Stadium on June 17 2023.
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images

Bafana Bafana were handed a tough draw in their Fifa World Cup 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with nemesis Nigeria standing on their way to the tournament in North America.

Hugo Broos’s team will have to negotiate their way past the Victor Osimhen-led Super Eagles, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in Group C after the draw was conducted last night in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

All nine group winners qualify for the World Cup, while the four best-ranked runners-up will go into a play-off to determine the  team to advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

The 2026 edition will be the first to be hosted by three countries, with the US, Mexico and Canada staging matches in 16 cities.

This will also be the first competition featuring 48 countries, and CAF has been allocated nine spots, up from five when the World Cup finals had 32 countries.

Bafana last played at the World Cup as hosts in 2010, while the last time they qualified was 2002. They failed to qualify in 2014 in Brazil and 2018, Russia and 2022 Qatar since SA hosted the finals in 2010.

Bafana coach Broos will hope for a strong showing from the mostly young combination he has been building towards 2026, when the South Africans compete in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast in January and February. SA are unbeaten at home under Broos, who will hope Percy Tau’s form at Al Ahly continues to blossom ahead of the qualifiers, which will kick off in November this year and conclude in 2025.

The biggest stumbling block to Broos's mission, of course, will be Nigeria, who in the past have brought heartache in SA teams. In four World Cup qualifiers dating back to 1993, the Super Eagles won three, while SA managed a 0-0 draw at home in 1994. Though Bafana did manage a first official win over Nigeria in 2017, in the qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria got their revenge at the Afcon finals in Egypt, beating a Stuart Baxter led SA 2-1 in the quarterfinals – in what was the last meeting between the sides.

Aside from facing Nigeria, Bafana should back themselves against the rest of the Group C opponents, with shorter trips to Lesotho and Zimbabwe bound to be less gruelling.

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