Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he believes Nigeria will indirectly help South Africa qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Broos’ troops collected a 2-0 victory over Lesotho on Friday evening at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane thanks to Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams’ strikes.
This was South Africa’s third victory in five World Cup qualifying matches so far, with one draw and one loss.
The triumph propelled the 1996 AFCON champions to the top of their group with 10 points, surpassing Benin and Rwanda.
In the post-match press conference, Broos told journalists that he believes the Super Eagles, who were the group’s favourites at the start of the qualifiers, will be crucial to his team’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
According to the Belgian tactician, Nigeria, after a poor start to their World Cup qualification journey, are now highly motivated to secure maximum points in all their remaining games.
Therefore, Broos says if the West African country continues to take points off other teams in the group, it will help South Africa’s qualification prospects, provided they collect points in their matches.
Eric Chelle’s men beat Rwanda 2-0 away from home on the same day as they look to climb up the table. Nigeria are fourth in the group standings with six points after five games so far.
BROOS – HOW WILL NIGERIA HELP BAFANA QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP
“You know, I said a few days ago that there’s a team or a country in the group who can help us a lot and it is Nigeria,” said Broos.
“You saw that they beat Rwanda. They can’t afford to lose points. So, against every team, they will do everything to win.
“And for the moment, we are four points ahead of Nigeria. So, it’s up to us to do what we have to do.
“And when we do what we have to do, Nigeria will help us, you will see. The situation is good at the moment, it’s up to us to keep that situation and certainly do well against [Benin] on Tuesday in Ivory Coast.”
Bafana will face Benin on Tuesday, 25 March at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny at 6 PM.
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