As Bafana Bafana prepare to face Nicaragua in their final match in South Africa before departure to the FIFA World Cup, coach Hugo Broos reflected on the difficulties the technical team faced while selecting the final travelling squad of 26 players.
Broos announced the final team for the FIFA World Cup at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Wednesday, 27 May 2026 with South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie and South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan, among others, looking on.
“We had to make some very difficult decisions, (assistant coach) Helman (Mkhalele) and myself. We had a lot of conversations in our office in the last two weeks. ‘What will we do with that one? What will we do with this one? Can we drop that one? Can we take this one?’ It was not so easy,” he said.
“We had a few difficult cases in our group, like (Thapelo) Morena who was injured, like (Aubrey) Modiba who was injured. So it was not so easy. And yesterday at four o’clock in the afternoon, we took the final decision. And from that moment, I was relieved that what we did and what the choices we made, they were the right choices. I’m excited, certainly, I’m excited, like every one of the 26 players, the staff and all of us together.
“We are excited that we can go to the World Cup. It’s football, the biggest tournament, the highest level that you can achieve as a coach and as a player.”
Bafana Bafana will play their final match in South Africa against Nicaragua at Orlando Stadium (Amstel Arena) on Friday, 29 May 2026. The kickoff is at 18h00.
SOURCED FROM SAFA WEBSITE.
