Bafana Bafana’s qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup took a massive step in the right direction, following a 3-1 win over minnows Zimbabwe in a nearly sold-out Free State Stadium.
After week four of the competition, South Africa sits on seven points in Group C, level with Rwanda and Benin. African heavyweights Nigeria have been left shell-shocked after three draws and a defeat sees them hover just a point off the foot of the group.
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The qualifier in Bloemfontein got off to a lively start, with the score 1-1 after just two minutes. Chirewa burst through a gaping hole in the Bafana defence to beat Ronwen Williams after Iqraam Rayners took advantage of a defensive error to open the scoring.
Speaking at the post-match press conference after his side’s victory, Hugo Broos praised the near sell-out crowd. “I am also happy having played here in the stadium with a fantastic crowd. You see what a crowd can do. They are behind the players.”
“They [the players] have difficult moments but that’s when you have a crowd like this, you go over the limit and we saw the second half, more and more we get confidence, more and more we play better, more and more the fans were amused so a fantastic evening.”
“They are really really really good supporters and I think that for the future that we have to think about to come and play more games here in the stadium because tonight it was fantastic.”
“Since I am here and that’s three years, I never had an atmosphere like today in this stadium. So you can make good performances, when you have a public like this.”
Homegrown hero Thapelo Morena scored a brace as the hosts would go on to win the tie 3-1 in the City of Roses and leave a lasting memory in the hearts of those in attendance.