By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
South Africa head coach, Hugo Broos insists Bafana Bafana can earn a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the expense of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
The Super Eagles represents South Africa’s biggest opponent in Group C of the qualifiers.
Broos’ side will also come up against Benin Republic, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in the same group.
Reacting to the draw, the Belgian , who has been in charge of Bafana Bafana since 2021, said his players are in a much better place than they were two years ago and he strongly believes that they can qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“The away games will be very important in a group like ours, but now a little bit more because we have five difficult away games for different reasons,” he told www.safa.net.
“I think it is possible for South Africa to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup first in the group.
” If you see the progress we have made in the last two years, you cannot compare those qualifiers (for the 2026 World Cup) with the qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. We are better now, we have a better team now. So okay, I am confident.”
The race for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will begin in November 2023 and conclude November 2025.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.