It is crunch time for African in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as the final round of matches will see some long-held desires of -going to the Americas realized, and others.
Bafana find themselves between a rock and a hard place, after their disappointing draw against Zimbabwe in Durban on Friday. Coach Hugo Broos’ men had one job and that was to score a goal but unfortunately had to settle for a goalless stalemate.
Bafana will host Amavubi in their final Group C encounter at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga – a venue that holds unpleasant memories for Bafana.
Fourteen years ago, Bafana pulled what is now infamously known as the dance of shame, where the team, led by the likes of Itumeleng Khune, Andile Jali and Siboniso Gaxa, to name a few, celebrated on the pitch after a draw against Sierra Leone, thinking they had qualified for the 2012 Afcon.
However, it was only later that they realized their celebrations had gone in vain, after Safa discovered that they had misread the rule book and that goal difference was not the tiebreaker, but head-to-head results.
Now, with Safa repeating another potentially costly blunder over a decade later and Bafana suffering a setback over the Teboho Mokoena saga.
Fifa docked SA three points for playing Mokoena, who was ineligible for the match against Lesotho in March. Now the team must win their final game and hope for a favourable result between Nigeria and Benin.
After Friday’s result in Durban, Bafana now must go for the jugular against a tricky Rwandan side that stunned them 2-0 in November 2023.
Sunday World looks at the threat posed by the Rwandans.
Fiacre Ntwari
Despite not seeing much game time this season at Kaizer Chiefs, goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari has been coach Adel Amrouche first choice.
Ntwari made his first appearance of the season for Chiefs in their Carling Knockout clash against Stellenbosch FC, where he had a good game and saved a penalty in the shootout that eliminated Amakhosi.
Rwanda have conceded the fewest goals in Group C, and the credit goes to the lanky goalkeeper and his defence.
Innocent Nshuti
Amavubi’s talisman, Innocent Nshuti, was also on the scoresheet for Rwanda in their win over Bafana in 2023, when he scored the opening goal in front of their boisterous home fans.
Currently plying his trade in the Tunisian top league for Esperance de Zarzis, Nshuti is known to be a fox inside the 18-area and one that Mbekezeli Mbokazi will have to deal with decisively and match physically.
Gilbert Mugisha
Gilbert Mugisha has proven to be one of the crucial figures for Amavubi during these World Cup qualifiers, with most of his goals resulting in much-needed wins.
He was one of the goal scorers in their 2-0 win over Bafana at the Huye Stadium in Butare and will be looking to pick up from where he left off and pose a threat in front of Ronwen Williams’ goals.
