Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is about to go down in South African books as one of the best coaches ever to have guided the team to their third FIFA World Cup qualifier in 23 years. However, this hinges on whether he qualifies for the prestigious global competition or not.
Following the late coach Clive “The Dog” Barker’s success in charge when he steered Bafana to their first-ever World Cup in France back in 1998, the South African Football Association (SAFA) appointed Carlos Queiroz, a Portuguese coach, in 2000.
Queiroz guided Bafana to their second World Cup through the tough qualification matches, earning their passage to the world’s biggest tournament. This edition was jointly hosted by Korea and Japan in 2002.
The sharp-tongued mentor, however, resigned from his position just three months before the tournament after a fallout with SAFA, and as a result, Jomo Somo was appointed caretaker coach, and he led the team to the World Cup in Korea/Japan, where they performed dismally.
Missed out on Germany
After Queiroz’s era, the South African team failed to impress, and they went on to miss the next World Cup in 2006, which was held in Germany. Thereafter, they earned automatic qualification without kicking the ball on the merits that they were the hosts in 2010.
Since hosting the 2010 edition, the first ever on the African continent, Bafana has never qualified for any world cup in three attempts; first in 2014 hosted by Brazil, followed by Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
Fast forward to the present – over two decades after Queiroz’s era, the 73-year-old Broos finds himself in a good position to engrave his name as one of the successful coaches at the helm of Bafana. Having guided them to their current top position in Group C with 16 points, Bafana are five points clear from second-placed Benin with 11 points in the 2026 FIFA World Cup race.
Having played seven matches in the six-team Group C, Broos and his troops are just three games away from realising their dream ambition to qualify for next year’s World Cup. The coming tournament will be jointly hosted in 16 cities across Canada, Mexico and the USA between 11 June and 19 July.
On a winning streak
Bafana, who are still fresh from a 3-0 triumph over Lesotho in another group qualifying match last Friday, take on traditional arch-rivals Nigeria on Tuesday in the return leg of the qualifying match at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State. Broos said they want nothing but a draw from this encounter to cement their qualification dream.
“Nigeria is a tough side to play against, but we have set our goal in this match, which is nothing less than a win. We might be between five and six points clear from both Benin and Nigeria, who are in second and third positions, respectively, but that doesn’t guarantee us to have qualified because anything can happen in football. That is the reason we have to win this match at all costs so that we can stretch our lead on the log,” said the optimistic Belgium-born mentor
Team captain Ronwen Williams, who was part of the Bafana squad that failed to qualify for the last World Cup, the 2022 edition in Qatar, has expressed his excitement about the current team’s ambition and their achievement in these qualifying games so far.
“It is an exciting moment that as Bafana Bafana we have worked hard for our achievements thus far without relying on the other team’s results. We still have nine points to play for to guarantee our place in the next World Cup, and a win today against Nigeria will provide us with that,” said Mzansi’s number one goal-minder.
The match on Tuesday against the Super Eagles starts at 6pm.
