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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching, and countries are working hard to secure their spot. For the first time in a long time, Bafana Bafana and their fans are beyond confident ahead of their clash against Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
It is indeed a new dawn for South African football, and for the first time in a long while, the passion carried by the fans is echoed by the performance of the players on the pitch. Once considered paper champions, Bafana Bafana have quickly joined their women counterparts, and adopted a winning mentality to reclaim their place as Mzansi’s pride and joy.
In hopes of returning Bafana Bafana to its glory days, head coach Hugo Broos has not only gotten his staff and team to buy into his system, but has also managed to garner the trust of the strict fans who desperately want the team to go back to its winning ways.
With a formidable squad stacked with young, fresh talent, balanced with some stern veteran experience, coach Hugo and the boys have made some noise in their quest to qualify for the World Cup. Their highly anticipated World Cup qualifier against Nigeria’s Super Eagles is fast approaching, and instead of calculating how many goals they need to score, and how hard they need to pray for certain opponents to lose, Bafana fans are oozing confidence that their team will secure their spot with a win.
A win for South Africa tomorrow would put Bafana Bafana on the brink of direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup, assuming no punitive points deduction. Conversely, Nigeria’s path would narrow drastically, realistically setting them on a long-shot route via playoffs.… pic.twitter.com/pN1Pufq1fc
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) September 8, 2025
🚨 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗖 𝗟𝗢𝗚
▪️ Bafana could qualify for the World Cup today, if they beat Nigeria and Benin fail to beat Lesotho pic.twitter.com/0HiJUja9Cw
— iDiski Times (@iDiskiTimes) September 9, 2025
For many Bafana Bafana fans, the importance of this clash cannot be stated enough, as the long-standing rivalry has been characterised by Nigeria’s utter domination over South Africa, with eight wins in their 18 official competitions, compared to Mzansi’s mere two wins. For them, a victory would mark a new dawn for the rivalry, and a path of redemption for South Africa.
Today feels like world cup final in South Africa. I can see that everyone is waiting for Bafana Bafana vs those guys that were not good enough to represent their European countries and opt for Nigeria.
We are winning this pic.twitter.com/8dY2iyjVdm
— Mpho Alex (@mphoalex11) September 9, 2025
Easy win for Bafana here, Nigeria is totally disconnected.
— Mo Madibi (@MoMadibi) September 9, 2025
fo real fo real Bafana Bafana must moer Nigeria today boma 3- 0 and start moering shibobos and tsamayas https://t.co/PKZrk3ROoK
— BHLAIN (@daddicoolo) September 9, 2025
Also see: Lesotho FA threaten to take action against fielding Teboho Mokoena in upcoming World Cup Qualifier