The last time Sundowns star Rayners played for Bafana Bafana was in September 2025 against Lesotho and Nigeria.
The Mitchells Plain-born striker then withdrew from the October squad to face Zimbabwe due to a cardiac scare.
NO BAFANA BAFANA FOR IQRAAM RAYNERS AFTER ILLNESS RECOVERY
Before falling ill, Rayners was flying for Sundowns with d 9 goals in just 11 games, while he has 5 goals in 19 caps for Bafana.
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For club, Rayners is currently 15 goals across all competitions even when accounting for his brief time away due to illness. His league performance has been particularly impressive, as he sits as a top contender for the Golden Boot with 11 goals in the Betway Premiership.
Since his return to the pitch, he has maintained a high level of impact, most notably evidenced by a prolific run in March 2026 where he scored 5 goals in just 4 matches.
But bizzarely, coach Hugo Broos has been igoring the Sundowns striker. According to his former coach Mgqithi, Rayners is needed at Bafana ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June.
MANQOBA MNGQITHI ON WHY MAMELODI SUNDOWNS STRIKER IS NEEDED BY BAFANA BAFANA
“But the personnel will be identified by the personality that we want to take and the identity of the team because the team personality will indicate exactly what type of strikers do we have,” Mngqithi told the Arrows Podcast, as quoted by Soccer Laduma.
“In my opinion, a striker like Iqraam Rayners is still amongst the best for the type of national team and the personality that I think we need to have because we need to consider the ability to play in the space behind.”
“I think that was shown even in AFCON when we played with a Moremi to demand the space behind, we can be stronger against bigger nations when we play with an Iqraam.”
“When we want to play with Lyle Foster, we must not work him opposite his strengths,” the former Sundowns mentor added.
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