Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has named his 23-man squad that will play two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria next month.
Broos trimmed the squad from the initial 48 list that he announced last week, for the crucial games. Bafana last qualified for the World Cup in 2002. The team will play Lesotho away from home at the Free State stadium on 5 September, as Lesotho has chosen the stadium as its temporary home ground.
Bafana will then face arch-rivals Nigeria at the same venue four days later. Broos said the team is aware about what is expected from them to qualify for the global showpiece that will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
“You know when you can go to the World Cup, is there a better motivation than that? Maybe if we go to the World Cup it will be the first and maybe the last time for all those players. Qualifying for the World Cup is extremely, extremely difficult, certainly here in Africa,” said Broos.
The coach cautioned the team against any complacency when they face neighbours Lesotho.
“Remember this Lesotho team held Nigeria to a draw in Nigeria, so we must not make the mistake of underestimating them. We beat Lesotho before, so we must beat them again.” warned the coach.
Bafana tops Group C with 13 points from six matches and leading second place Rwanda by five points, Benin in third place, while the Super Eagles of Nigeria are in disappointing fourth place, followed by Lesotho and Zimbabwe respectively.
The team will go into camp in Johannesburg on Monday, before heading to Bloemfontein before the end of the week.
Included in the final squad are:
- Ronwen Williams
- Ricardo Goss
- Sipho Chaine
- Syndey Mobbie
- Zuko Mdunyelwa
- Mbekezeli Mbokazi
- Aubrey Modiba
- Khulumani Ndamane
- Ime Okon
- Samukelo Kabini
- Siyabonga Ngezana
- Teboho Mokoena
- Luke Le Roux
- Bathusi Aubaas
- Thalente Mbatha
- Kamogelo Sebelebele
- Oswin Appollis
- Patrick Maswanganyi
- Iqraam Rayners
- Lyle Foster
- Mduduzi Shabalala
- Modau Nkota
- Relebohile Mofokeng
