14 July 2023 – Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his charges 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 South African senior national team was placed in Group C at the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers conducted in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on Thursday (13 July 2023), and they were pitted against Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho.
Broos has been at the helm since May 2021 and he said such has been the improvement during the period that his charges will be targeting the top spot in the group.
“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.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 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.