Bafana must beat Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium in their final Group C qualifier and hope that Nigeria can beat Benin.
Bafana Bafana wing-back Thapelo Morena says there is no need to panic as they enter last chance saloon for automatic qualification for the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals.
Bafana must win and hope
Bafana must beat Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday evening in their final Group C qualifier and hope that Nigeria can beat Benin in Uyo on the same day.
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There is also a chance that Bafana could qualify automatically if Benin and Nigeria draw. But that would need the calculators to come out as it would come down to goal difference between Bafana and Benin.
If Benin win, then Bafana cannot finish top of Group C, though they could still have a chance in a complicated play-off system.
The goalless draw with Zimbabwe on Friday, coupled with Benin’s win in Rwanda, means that for the first time in this campaign, booking a ticket to the USA, Canada and Mexico as group winners is out of Bafana’s hands.
“What happened on Friday happened,” said Morena.
“Now we are fully focused on Tuesday’s game. We have to deliver and we will do our level best to grind out the result.
“On Friday … we were focused on getting a goal and we tried our level best to score, but we rushed our decisions.
“So in this game we must go out all guns blazing, but we must not be too urgent to get a goal.
“We will get goals, especially at home as we know the fans will come out and support us. We believe in everyone on the team and are putting in the hard work to make sure we do well with out final passes.”
Nigeria have plenty of motivation to win
In Bafana’s favour is that Nigeria, on paper, have to be favourites to win at home to Benin. The Super Eagles also have a chance of topping Group C, if they can beat Benin and Bafana fail to beat Rwanda.
Eric Chelle’s side also look likely to reach the play-offs if they beat Benin and still only finish second in Group C.
Gernot Rohr’s Benin are the form side in the group, however, having won their last three qualifiers without conceding a goal.
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If Bafana do finish second in Group C, then they will have to hope they end up as one of the four best runners-up in the ten CAF World Cup qualifying groups.
That would put them in a four-team play off next month to see which African side gets one more chance to qualify for the World Cup next March.