Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has challenged his players to go flat out and defeat Lesotho in Friday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Free State Stadium.
South Africa will face their neighbors as they seek to move closer to securing a place at the global showpiece.
Bafana Bafana currently top Group C with 13 points, and a victory over Lesotho would further strengthen their qualification hopes. They have won three of their last qualifiers and will be looking to extend their winning run. However, a pending case could see them lose three points for fielding Teboho Mokoena, who had accumulated two yellow cards prior to the match against Lesotho.
Despite a slow start to the campaign, Bafana Bafana have managed to rise to the top of their group and will now look to consolidate their position.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the fixture, Broos stressed the importance of the match. “The game on Friday is a game of must win. We can’t afford ourselves to lose points against Lesotho,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean I underestimate our opponents. That’s the biggest mistake we can make now—to think it’s only Lesotho and we will win,” he noted.
“We have to be careful, we have to keep the pressure on our opponents. We will win the game on Friday, job is done. It is up to the opponents to do better than us and we will put pressure on them,” concluded the coach.
Meanwhile, South Africa will take on Nigeria next Tuesday in what promises to be a tough encounter.
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