BLOEMOFNTEIN. Hugo Broos, head coach of Bafana Bafana, has stressed the importance of focusing on winning the on-field battle against Lesotho. This match is a crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier return fixture. It takes place in Bloemfontein’s Toyota Stadium today – Friday, 5 September – at 18:00. He will not allow any disruption from the secondary aspect. The suspension of star player Teboho Mokoena is something Lesotho is clinging to ahead of the fixture. It will not affect their focus.
The Belgian mentor was speaking at last night’s media conference held ahead of the important match. An upbeat Broos has described the fixture against Lesotho as crucial. He views the match against Nigeria next Tuesday, September 9, as the final step. This game is critical for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Mokoena’s suspension is an administrative issue. It involves Fifa, the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa), and the South African Football Association (Safa). Lefa has made it clear that they will protest should Mokoena feature in this return match. The aggrieved body argues that the player should serve a suspension in today’s outing. They note he played in South Africa’s 2 – 0 win over Likuena in March. The Bethlehem-born player should have been suspended for the match in question as he had accumulated two yellow cards. The Lesotho federation contends that Fifa should dock points from South Africa for fielding Mokoena. Safa has since received backlash from the public for the blunder.
The Belgian-born coach said his charges were focusing on winning the match against their Lesotho neighbours and fully capitalising on the game taking place on Bafana Bafana’s home turf. “We know Lesotho is always a very tough opponent so it will be a tough game. When you are as far along as we are at the moment, we can always try to do something more. It is very important we beat Lesotho to put pressure on other opponents in the group,” said Broos.
Heading into today’s game, Bafana Bafana are leading Group C with 13 points. Lesotho are in fifth place with six points. Rwanda is in second place with eight points, tied with Benin, who are in third place. Nigeria’s Super Eagles are in fourth position with seven points.
The Lesotho head coach, Leslie Notsi, is equally determined to stage an upset against Bafana Bafana and consolidate their position. “We are focusing on what we are in control of, which is to prepare the team for the match against Bafana Bafana. We are playing a team that has done well in previous matches; however, at the same time we are focusing on rectifying errors from the previous match and improving where we did well. The match against Bafana is the kind of match that brings out the best in the players, and we are looking forward to it. The difficulty is playing such an important match away from home in Lesotho,” said Notsi.
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