With Bafana Bafana landing safely back home following what was a historic and successful appearance at the 2026 Fifa World Cup in America, we take a close look at the performance of all the individual players who featured in the competition and rate them out of 10 points.
Mbekezeli Mbokazi (9)
Mbokazi was by far Bafana Bafana’s best player at the World Cup, as he defended the goals as if his life depended on it. The 20-year-old muscular defender got an opportunity to showcase his strength, power, speed, technique, skill, and all his other attributes at the biggest stage of football.
With the performance that Mbokazi displayed, he surely has some top European clubs monitoring him and could be on the move from Chicago Fire in the Major League Soccer.
Ime Okon (8)
Okon was certainly one of Bafana’s best players alongside his partner-in-crime Mbokazi in defence. The 22-year-old Hannover 96 defender is certainly a future star and important player for Bafana.
Relebohile Mofokeng (7)
The new Royale Union Saint-Gilloise signing may not have featured as much as he and the nation wanted him to at the World Cup, but every minute that he got, Mofokeng grabbed it with both hands. The 21-year-old was able to show glimpses of his quality to the entire world during the Czechia and Korea game and will look to take the level up at his new club in Belgium.
Ronwen Williams (7)
Williams walked out of the World Cup with an interesting stat of being the first goalkeeper in the history of the competition to complete 77 passes during the game against Canada. Ronza also played a vital role in leading Bafana’s defence, which had an overall good performance.
Teboho Mokoena (7)
The man who scored the first and the most crucial goal for Bafana at the World Cup, Teboho Mokoena, is always ranked at the top of players who will always show up when it matters the most.
Mokoena scored the penalty against Czechia to give Bafana a lifeline at the World Cup. Even though he did not have the best of matches against Canada, Tebza’s overall performance was good enough.
Thapelo Maseko (7)
Who would have thought that a player who was not in a good mental space, struggling for game time, and ending up being loaned out to a club far away from home would come back as a completely different player in a space of five months?
Maseko is certainly one of the stars whose name will be hard to forget in many years to come, for scoring that famous winning goal which took Bafana to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Tshepang Moremi (6)
In all the games that Moremi featured in, coming from the bench, the Pirates winger brought a lot of spark every time he was introduced. He even provided arguably the biggest vital assist of his career in Bafana’s 1-0 memorable win over South Korea.
Oswin Appollis (6)
Oswin Appollis did not entirely live up to the expectations at the World Cup, as he was blowing hot and cold in all the matches that he featured in. He did, though, manage to show flashes of his qualities and what he is capable of at the biggest stage.
Yaya Sithole (6)
Sphephelo “Yaya” Sithole kicked off his World Cup campaign on a negative note when he was shown a straight red card and made a costly error against Mexico in the opening game.
However, he couldn’t have asked for a better comeback when he delivered a stellar performance against Korea and basically showed why he is one of Broos’ trusted soldiers.
Khuliso Mudau (6)
Like almost everyone, Khuliso Mudau did not have the best of starts to the World Cup, but he gradually grew into what has been described as an “overwhelming” opening match experience.
Thalente Mbatha (6)
Thalente Mbatha also did not have the amount of game time many thought he would get, given his box-to-box and goal-scoring abilities.But whenever he was called up by Broos, the Orlando Pirates star managed to get the job done in the middle of the park.
Aubrey Modiba (5)
The experienced left-back did not have a great tournament, nor did he have a dreadful one, as he mostly stuck to the basics and contributed immensely to the impressive defensive unit.
- Bafana Bafana has returned home safely after their historic and successful participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in America.
- The article provides a detailed assessment of each player’s performance during the tournament.
- Players are rated individually out of 10 points based on their World Cup display.
- The evaluation highlights the contributions and impact of the squad throughout the competition.
- Full player ratings and detailed analysis are available in the Sunday World e-edition.
Ime Okon (8)
Okon was certainly one of Bafana’s best players alongside his partner-in-crime
Relebohile
Ronwen Williams (7)
Williams walked out of the World Cup with an interesting stat of being the first goalkeeper in the history of the competition to complete 77 passes during the game against Canada. Ronza also played a vital role in leading Bafana’s defence, which had an overall good performance.
Teboho Mokoena (7)
Mokoena scored the penalty against Czechia to give Bafana a lifeline at the World Cup. Even though he did not have the best of matches against Canada, Tebza’s overall performance was good enough.
Who would have thought that a player who was not in a good mental space, struggling for game time, and ending up being loaned out to a club far away from home would come back as a completely different player in a space of five months?
Maseko is certainly one of the stars whose name will be hard to forget in many years to come, for scoring that famous winning goal which took Bafana to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
In all the games that Moremi featured in, coming from the bench, the Pirates winger brought a lot of spark every time he was introduced. He even provided arguably the biggest vital assist of his career in Bafana’s 1-0 memorable win over
Oswin Appollis (6)
Oswin Appollis did not entirely live up to the expectations at the World Cup, as he was blowing hot and cold in all the matches that he featured in. He did, though, manage to show flashes of his qualities and what he is capable of at the biggest stage.
Yaya
Sphephelo “Yaya”
However, he couldn’t have asked for a better comeback when he delivered a stellar performance against Korea and basically showed why he is one of Broos’ trusted soldiers.
Like almost everyone,
Aubrey Modiba (5)
