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Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos believes they have their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification fate firmly in their own hands as they prepare to face Nigeria on Tuesday.
Bafana recorded a convincing 3-0 win over neighbour’s Lesotho in a Group C match at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein last night, solidifying their status as the frontrunners in the group.
The Belgian admits he had been feeling undue pressure in the lead-up to the match against Likuena, but the victory has somewhat eased the mood as they now look to complete the double against the Super Eagles in the current FIFA window.
"You know, sometimes you have a bad feeling and you can't prove it, but there is a bad feeling, and I have to be honest, I had that bad feeling in the past days," said Broos.
"I will not go in detail, but again, what happened in the past days is not normal, therefore it was so important for us to win the game today, and that's what we did.
"Now we will see next week when we play against Nigeria, if God is with us, we can maybe qualify already next Tuesday for the World Cup – and that stays the goal for us.
"We are in a good situation, we have everything in our own hands, so it's up to us now to finish it."
Broos also took a jibe at the neighbours after their LeFA secretary general Mokhosi Mohapi threatened to protest if Tebogo Mokoena was fielded, drawing on the tension around the drawn-out suspension matter from their previous meeting.
"Everything that happened in the past day made it a nervous game, it was not an easy game, we saw a very motivated Lesotho, but we did it very well." he added.
"We had some chances, we scored, we dominated and the only thing we had to do today was to stay organised and not make stupid mistakes – and that's something we didn't do.
"Lesotho were kicking the ball forward for 90 minutes and hoped for a mistake from our side, but we didn't do it, and we won the game, which I think we deserved. That shows again that you only win games on the pitch, and not off the pitch."
