South Africa book their spot at the Fifa World Cup

IOL

It’s been just short of a quarter century since Bafana Bafana qualified for a Fifa World Cup, but in 2025, led by coach Hugo Broos they’ve finally made South Africa proud again as the side beat Rwanda 3-0 in their qualifier match on Tuesday to book their ticket to the quadrennial showpiece.

This in spite of the SA Football Association (Safa) and not because of their assistance.

The fact that Bafana nearly missed out on Fifa World Cup qualification due in large part to an administrative error beggars belief.

The debacle of fielding the ineligible Teboho Mokoena for a qualifier match against Lesotho in March nearly cost them their World Cup ticket.

Fifa, quite correctly, decided to dock Bafana three points as their 2-0 win over Lesotho was converted to a 3-0 loss.

Instead of accepting the decision and moving on, the Safa immediately put out a statement saying they would appeal the decision, as they also attempted to discredit the process the world governing body took, and it was a shameless attempt to deflect from their own mistakes.

While all this was going on, Bafana had to play their final two qualifiers after they were docked the points which saw them fall into second place in Group C behind Benin on goal difference.

A goalless draw last week against Zimbabwe for South Africa, while Benin beat Rwanda saw South Africa fall two points behind. It left Bafana facing the real possibility that they could still win their final qualifier against Rwanda and still not qualify.

However, South Africa can now be eternally grateful to Nigeria who beat Benin in their final fixture which allowed Bafana to reclaim top spot when it mattered most.