9 October 2025 – Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has promised that his charges will fight like lions when they meet Zimbabwe in a highly anticipated 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday. Kickoff is at 18h00 tomorrow.
This is the penultimate match of the South African senior men’s national team’s qualifying campaign, and the Belgian mentor said it will be all hands on deck at the Durban stadium tomorrow. He said the team remains committed to the task at hand and they are the same group of players that have worked tirelessly to keep South Africa in the race for qualification for two years.
“Nothing has changed. I feel that the group, the boys, the players, they know that they are the same players from two months ago. They are the same team with the same quality and with a fantastic mentality,” he said. “Tomorrow at six o’clock, the game starts and we will fight for it like lions because we want to win that game tomorrow, you can be sure of it.”
Captain Ronwen Williams said the team would work very hard and ensure that they get the required number of points from these last two matches against Zimbabwe (on Friday) and Rwanda (in Mbombela next Tuesday).
“We know what is at stake. This is the business end of the qualifiers, but nothing has changed and we need to be the same team we have been for the last two or three years. We have been growing, and we have been so good, but we need to finish it on a positive note. We have set ourselves high standards. When we started the World Cup campaign, we said we wanted to qualify and it is close now.”
Bafana Bafana arrived in Durban on Thursday morning and were given a rousing welcome by fans at the King Shaka International Airport and at the team hotel in North Beach. Broos said he hopes to see the same passion in the stands at the Moses Mabhida tomorrow.
MEC of sports arts and culture in KwaZulu-Natal, Mntomuhle Khawula, SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan, KwaZulu-Natal Sport Confederation President Thami Mchunu, and SAFA NEC member and SAFA KZN Chairperson Kwenzakwakhe Ngwenya paid the team a visit on Thursday to wish them well.
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