OPINION: Bafana may never get a better chance to qualify for the World Cup

It is close to 24 years since Bafana Bafana last made it through a qualification campaign to get to a Fifa World Cup finals.

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July 1, 2001, to be precise, was the date when a 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou meant Carlos Queiroz’ South Africa had sealed their place at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

There was 2010, of course, when Bafana hosted the World Cup, but Carlos Alberto Parreira’s side did not need to qualify.

Broos’ Bafana revolution

It has been a long time, therefore, since anyone has been able to say this. But Hugo Broos’ South Africa have a glorious chance to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico next year.

Much of this is down to the Belgian head coach’s remarkable transformation of Bafana’s fortunes. Before Broos arrived at the helm of Bafana it was safe to say the senior national team was going absolutely nowhere.

Ably assisted by Bafana legend Helman Mkhalele, Broos has built a South African side that may not have an abundance of big name players in a global sense, but that makes up for it with a team spirit perhaps not seen in Bafana since Clive Barker’s Africa Cup of Nations winners in 1996.

Bafana came out of nowhere to win a bronze medal at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast. And they have built on that, qualifying comfortably for the 2025 AFCON finals, and now two points clear at the top of their World Cup qualifying group.

Some extenuating circumstances are also assisting Bafana in their mission to qualify for the World Cup.

First comes Fifa’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from 32, securing nine automatic qualifying places for African sides.

Bafana still have to win their group to be certain of qualifying for the World Cup, but it doesn’t take a maths genius to work out that their basic odds are better.

Super Eagles flop

Next is the utterly awful performance of Group C favourites Nigeria in their first four Group C qualifiers. The Super Eagles, despite being packed with those global stars that Bafana perhaps lack, got just three points from their opening four matches.

One of those was at home to Bafana. But if Broos’ side can certainly take credit for that hard-earned point, they can’t for Nigeria’s draws with Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and their defeat by Benin.

This meant that even though Nigeria found some form in winning in Rwanda on Friday, they remain four points behind Bafana at the top of Group C.

This means that even if South Africa lose to Nigeria at home, they will still reach the World Cup if they can beat Benin, Rwanda, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Which brings us to the final, perhaps most valid circumstance in Bafana’s favour. With Zimbabwe and Lesotho not having home venues that meet CAF regulations, the Warriors and Dikwena will play their ‘home’ games against Bafana in South Africa.

Home advantage

This means that four of Bafana’s last five qualifiers are on home soil, a clear advantage for Broos’ men.

The only game Bafana have to play outside of South Africa is Tuesday’s qualifier against Benin. But even that match is not being played in Benin. It will take place in the Ivory Coast, because Benin also do not have a suitable stadium.

Now wonder Broos stressed the need for six points out of six in this week’s games against Lesotho (Bafana won that won 2-0 on Friday) and Benin.

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If Bafana can beat Benin, then they will be firm favourites to win a run of fixtures in South Africa, in front of fervent home support, and make it all the way to the USA.