Bafana Bafana in control ahead of crucial World Cup fixtures

South Africa’s 23-year wait for an automatic qualification into a FIFA World Cup has been a mixed bag of triumphs and setbacks, and the last round of qualifying matches coming in October has since become the most important step in Bafana Bafana's pursuit of this long-awaited achievement.

That is after South Africa suffered their worst setback of the campaing which came off the field on Monday, when Bafana were docked three points and their 2-0 win against Lesotho in March, overturned to a 3-0 loss.

The South African Football Association (Safa), the custodian of football in the country, handed a R215 000 fine for negligence since their employee, Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka failed to pick up midfielder Teboho Mokoena's suspension.

Midfield maestro, Mokoena was not supposed to play against Lesotho in March after he had picked up two yellow cards in previous matches.

For much of this campaign, coach Hugo Broos and his Bafana side have been in control, navigating a rare qualifying run with an unfamiliar degree of consistency resulting to them topping Group C of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 2026 Fifa World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Monday's sanction dropped South Africa to second place in Group C, level on 14 points with Benin but trailing slightly on goal difference. While the ruling was a shock, it was not entirely unexpected, as the issue had hung over the team for months.

Crucially, Broos and his players still control their destiny, especially with both remaining fixtures set to be played in familiar surroundings in Durban and Mbombela.

Safa have confirmed that they will exercise the 10-day period allowed to lodge an appeal, but with all the uncertainty surrounding that process, the more straightforward path to qualification still lies in what the team achieves on the pitch in the final two matches.

Their first clash will be against Zimbabwe, technically an away fixture but staged at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, since their neighbours do not have a stadium that meets Fifa standards.

Zimbabwe are the only winless side in the group, sitting bottom with just four points from eight matches. On paper, this is a fixture in which Bafana should have the advantage, with both momentum and superior quality in their ranks.

However, Zimbabwe are not to be underestimated. Even though South Africa beat them 3-1 in the first leg, the Warriors played a key role in complicating Nigeria’s campaign by holding the Super Eagles to two 1-1 draws, leaving them three points behind the leaders with only two matches to play.

Bafana will also be aware of their upcoming challenge after having suffered a 2-0 defeat to Rwanda earlier in the qualifiers. That same Rwandan side will be their next opponents, just days after they face Zimbabwe.

Amavubi currently sit fourth on 11 points, and while they still have ground to make up, they have shown they can compete with the best. Their narrow 1-0 loss against Nigeria earlier this month demonstrated their quality, though wastefulness in front of goal prevented them from inflicting another suprise result.

South Africa will host Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium, in a city best known as the centre of agriculture. Broos and his men will be hoping that, when the final whistle blows, they can finally reap the rewards of their hard work and plant themselves firmly on the global stage despite the obstacles they have faced.