Tonight, Bafana Bafana will step onto the Mbombela Stadium turf with a heavy dose of déjà vu coursing through their veins as they host Rwanda in the decisive 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers showdown.
Nestled on the outskirts of Nelspruit, this stadium is more than just a venue – it is a haunted ground for Bafana, a place etched deep with memories of agony and shattered dreams. Nearly a decade and half ago, this very arena bore witness to a cruel twist of fate for Bafana.
South Africa believed they had sealed their ticket to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, danced and sung in jubilation, only for the celebrations to be muted after the realization that Bafana had not qualified, and Niger were through to Afcon.
The heartbreak was compounded by a bitter lesson – a failure to grasp the tie-break rules. What was assumed to be goal difference turned out to be head-to-head results, a detail that went unheeded, turning hope into humiliation for both the Association and the coach at the time, Pitso Mosimane.
The team had household names such as Sphiwe Tshabalala, Andile Jali, Steven Pienaar, Itumeleng Khune and the likes. They were all left to endure a slow, painful walk of shame that still lingers in the collective memory.
Tonight, as they set foot in Mbombela again – those ghosts of the past will surely fuel their fire as Bafana are in desperate need for a win and a miracle.
The stakes? A place in next year’s revamped World Cup, but it is not all up to South Africa. Group C was turned on its head when Fifa docked Bafana three points for their transgressions in a match against Lesotho – again, another error from the support staff.
This opened room for Nigeria and Benin to fancy their chances, and as it stands, Benin are in the best position to qualify.
“When they asked us last month where do we want to play, most of the players said Port Elizabeth of Cape Town because of the support that we got,” said Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams.
“For some weird reason, we just heard that we are playing in Mbombela. Maybe now it is time to right our wrongs from so many years ago because people still mention that – and that is something that sits with Bafana probably forever, so hopefully we can rewrite the script. Calculators will be out at Mbombela, hopefully things can go in our favour and hopefully the football Gods will be on our side. We all will be dancing, maybe we will rock that same dance that they did that time,” Williams added.
“They got the faith, the belief, it is just for us to go out there tomorrow and once again show the team that we are and have been for the last few years. There is no reason to doubt the quality that we have in the team and the progress that we’ve made. Yes we would have loved things to be a bit different, but it is what it is now and the boys are ready to go again and get the job done.
“There is still so much to play for and we know what needs to be done and we know the points and how things work. We will go out with the same faith and the same belief, the same mentality that we have had over the years because that is what has pulled us through.
“We don’t have to have any doubts, we still believe in the team that we’ve got and there’s all to play for. We believe we can make history tomorrow and you can feel and sense that the mindset is good. The boys know that we have to dig deep and we have to go again and just leave out all in the field. We believe that we can make history,” Williams added.
If it weren’t for the administrative negligence by team manager Vincent Tseka or the collective team under Hugo Broos, Bafana would be at the summit of Group C with 18 points, with destiny in their hands. However, the situation is different as Mzansi will rely on rivals Nigeria to do them a favour by beating Benin. This could be a win-win for the Super Eagles and Bafana, as the West Africans would stand a chance to finish as the top four best runners-up, who will compete in the intercontinental qualifiers.
The permutations are clear. If Bafana win and Nigeria beat Benin – Bafana go through. Should Benin get the better of the Super Eagles, they go through and if Benin lose to Nigeria and South Africa lose against Rwanda, the Super Eagles qualify.
“There are so many factors that will play a big role going into the game, but for me the most important factor is us winning our game and focusing on what we can do. We can’t control what happens in Nigeria. We have to be super focused on our game. We saw with Zimbabwe, who did not have anything to play for, but they gave their all. We expect Rwanda to be the same.
“So it is just for us to focus on our game and know what to do. Hopefully win the game with as many goals as possible and we will get the feeling from the supporters as to what’s going on that side because I know they will be on their phones. Players are experienced like that – if we see the fans are celebrating, we will know that Nigeria are leading and it should not put pressure on us, we just have to play our game and I feel that we had a lot of anxiety in the last game.
“You could see in a lot of moments we weren’t the calm team that we have become. Of course we wanted to get the job done so desperately. I spoke to the guys and told them to not doubt themselves because in a lot of moments in the Zimbabwe game, we became too desperate and you could see that’s not us – we don’t want to play with so much pressure on our shoulders, we want to be calm and make the right decisions. But those are the lessons, and I believe in fairytales. Let’s go in with the same mindset and be calmer.