Former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey has warned Hugo Broos’ men against making costly mistakes but urges calm nerves when they meet Zimbabwe and Rwanda in must-win 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
South Africa are still in with a chance to book a ticket to the quadrennial global football tournament to be co-staged in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Placed second in Group C with 14 points, the same as leaders Benin who enjoy a superior goal-difference, Bafana need to win their two remaining games.
But at the same time, they pray for Benin to slip up away in Rwanda and Nigeria. While the Cheetahs will be on the road for both their games, Broos’ side has the privilege of hosting Zimbabwe in Durban, before welcoming Amavubi in Mbombela, with strong backing expected for the matches.
What could make Rwanda make life for Benin is that the East Africans, at 11 points, still have mathematical chances of topping the group. Tovey understands Bafana’s task at hand and draws inspiration from how Bafana handled Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in September.
TOVEY WARNS BAFANA BUT HAILS MENTAL FITNESS
“I think we don’t have to panic. Any blunder could cost us big,” Tovey told FARPost.
“We have got two games on Friday and Tuesday. Those are absolutely critical not only for SAFA themselves, but for the players. The players just have to ask themselves, ‘where do you want to play next year in June?’ They should all be saying ‘I want to be at that World Cup.’
“They are only two wins away and they are playing in South Africa. But let’s bot think about Tuesday’s game before we play Friday’s game. Let’s do what we have to do on Friday and then see what has to be done on Tuesday. Let’s make it out of everybody’s hands, just two win and you qualify,” the 1996 AFCON-winning Bafana skipper went on.
“They are doing pretty well. I watched the game against Nigeria and they were not intimidated by the big Nigerians. I thought they handled the situation very well, they looked pretty solid and mentally good.”
Tovey captained South Africa to qualification for their first-ever World Cup in 1998 but was controversially dropped from the squad that did duty in France.
Bafana last took part at the global tournament in 2010 as hosts but last qualified on their own for the 2002 edition.