The Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, believes that his team has what it takes to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be played in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

On Tuesday, South Africa moved up to second in Group C of the CAF qualifiers following an outstanding 3-1 win against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein.

Bafana has not played at a World Cup since 2010, but the current group of players may just have what it takes to qualify.

Broos told OFM Sport that the most important thing is that his team believes in their ability.

“This is really a goal for everyone in the group, for the technical staff, but I feel also for the players, they really want to qualify for the World Cup,” said Broos.

“That means a lot when you have a group who believes in it and who want to go really to the limit every game to win a game, then you have a big chance to achieve what you want.

“But again, it is a tricky group when you see the results of the last three games and draw teams who lost points.

“So, it will be difficult, but when you have that confidence and that mentality to really want to achieve what you want, I think you have a big quality in the group.

“This is the change I think when you compare Bafana Bafana with two years ago, when I look at the qualifiers for the previous World Cup, we didn't really believe because already from the beginning they said yes, yes, but how we are going to win against Ghana.

“Now that question is not any more there when you play against a team like Nigeria. We went to Nigeria and nobody said how are we going to play. We went to Algeria and even though it was a friendly game, everyone believes that we can win against those teams.

“And that is a big change in the team from two years ago.”

Only the top team in each of the CAF qualifying groups will earn the right to represent Africa at the World Cup finals in two years in North America.

South Africa’s next World Cup qualifier is next year in March against Lesotho.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport