Bloemfontein — Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is targeting a win in the crunch 2026 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria but he will be satisfied with a draw at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday.
A win would put SA in pole position with 19 points from eight games for the global showpiece to be played in the US, Mexico and Canada next year and it will effectively eliminate Nigeria for automatic qualification.
If Bafana get all three points against the Super Eagles and second-placed Benin are beaten by Lesotho in the late kickoff of Group C in Abidjan, Broos’ men will qualify for the tournament.
“It is a big opportunity for us tomorrow because if we win this game, we have ‘qualified’. Not mathematically but it will be a miracle if we don’t qualify. It is an opportunity for us to win the game but we are playing against good opponents,” said Broos.
“We can’t think that because they [Nigeria] are six points behind us, they are not a good team any more. Their players are playing for big teams in Europe and that means they have quality.
“We don’t have fear to play this game, we had a fantastic qualifying programme until now. We lost in Rwanda but that was not because of us but the situation.
“It was scandal that a World Cup qualifier could be played on such a pitch.
“This is the reason we lost that game and for the rest we did what we had to do by winning games we had to win and we were happy with a draw whenever we got one.”
In their last qualifier on Friday Bafana cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Lesotho with the goals coming from Mohau Nkota, Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis.
Over the weekend Foster said he thought the pressure would be on Nigeria. “I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure on us … at the moment we are where we wanted to be in the group and that’s a positive. Pressure is on the guys who are trying to get to us but that doesn’t mean we should take our foot off the pedal.”
Foster, who plays for Burnley in the English Premiership, said they must keep the same winning mentality when they take on Nigeria.
Broos urged his players to be at their best because it is going to be a tough match.
“The opportunity is there but we must not forget Nigeria is a good team. This is an important game and we are in a situation that I didn’t really expect from the beginning … being six points ahead of Nigeria with three games to play.
“This means we are in a good position but it is still not finished. It is up to us to play a good game against a good team, who maybe play their last chance tomorrow.
“If they don’t win, they will have serious problems. Pressure is on them but that doesn’t mean it is not going to be a tough game. We know it is going to be a tough game and we will try to win it like we do with always with every game.
“If we win, it will be a good result for us but I said before the Lesotho game if we have four points from these two games I will be happy. This doesn’t mean we are going to play for a draw.
“It will be dangerous to do that, we will try to win it.”