Safa president says Bafana Bafana have to qualify for Afcon and world cup

The race for best national soccer team will commence, which includes Bafana Bafana’s qualifiers for Afcon and Fifa World Cup in Quatar.

Bafana Bafana have a fairly easy road to qualify for Afcon, coming past Ghana on their way.

Dr Danny Jordaan, president of the South African Football Association (Safa), has, however, given them no other option but to qualify.

Bafana Bafana were in a group with rivals Ghana, Sudan and the winner of the play-off tie between Sao Tome and Mauritius. The top two teams in that group will qualify for the continental showpiece.

“I would expect us to qualify,” Jordaan said. “I think that we can qualify. There is no reason for us not to.

“What is the issue if we end up on top or second? That is what we have to deal with, with Ghana. I think that we have the team. We have to see.

“But this tournament also showed that there are no easy matches on the African continent any more. There is no small nation in the continent anymore.”

Bafana Bafana have also got to know their opponents for the 2022 Fifa World Cup group phase qualifiers. They are drawn in Group G alongside Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Ghana, whom they also contest with for a place at the 2021 Afcon.

Molefi Ntseki’s men will have to put pedal to the mettle this time around when they take on teams from the continent, which is not always an easy thing to do.

The group phase qualifiers will get underway in March, which is the first international break in 2020.

Only the group winners will advance to the final round of qualifying, where the 10 group winners will be drawn into five two-legged affairs to determine the five sides that will compete in Qatar.

South Africa failed to qualify for the last two editions of the global spectacle, with their last appearance dating back to 2010.

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