‘ZIFA chose Moeses Mabhida Stadium to give the Warriors the best possible environment to compete,’ said the Zimbabwe Football Association in a statement.
Bafana Bafana have gained an advantage in their bid to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup after Zimbabwe announced on Tuesday that they will play their ‘home’ Group C match on October 10 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
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Zimbabwe had intended to move the game to Botswana, but the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) said on Tuesday that they were unable to get the stadium they wanted in Francistown.
Zimbabwe cannot play at home
“The venue became unavailable due to Botswana’s need to use the same stadium,” read a ZIFA statement.
Zimbabwe do not have a stadium in their own country that meets Fifa requirements.
“After assessing alternatives across the regiomn, only two suitable venues in South Africa remained: Orlando Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium,” continued ZIFA.
“Taking into account logistics, cost, facilities and fan safety, ZIFA chose Moeses Mabhida Stadium to give the Warriors the best possible environment to compete.”
Bafana will therefore play both of their final two Group C qualifiers in South Africa – they will host Rwanda on October 13, with a venue yet to be announced.
Bafana have a three point lead at the top of Group C, but that is set to be cut to zero, if and when Fifa punish South Africa for fielding an ineligible player – Teboho Mokoena – in their World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in March.
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Head coach Hugo Broos, meanwhile, has named a 45-man preliminary squad ahead of the games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda. The squad will then be cut to around 23 players over the next couple of weeks.
Bafana squad
