South Africa head coach, Hugo Broos, has warned other African nations against ruling Eric Chelle's Super Eagles out of contention for a 2026 FIFA World Cup spot, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Belgian manager led Bafana Bafana to a 1-1 draw against Finidi George‘s Super Eagles in June 2024 during their World Cup qualifier clash.
South Africa are currently second in Nigeria's World Cup qualifying group, four points above the Super Eagles. Despite Bafana Bafana's advantage over Eric Chelle's team, Broos warned other nations in the group to watch out for the three-time AFCON Champions.
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“Yeah, the Mali coach [is now with Nigeria], I don’t know what’s happening in Nigeria, for me it’s a surprise that they are already four points behind us, they have played only draws and lost also,” Broos in quotes revealed by iDiski Times.
“This is not Nigeria we know. The quality is much better than where they are now [in the group], but they will come back, they will come back – but they are four points behind us. So, they have to win two more games than us to pass us.”
“The rest, we started with it, Lesotho, Benin, Rwanda, Zimbabwe you have to play those games, its’ not like before where you say, ‘oh we will win. No, they are still in the running; all the teams are still in the running.
Next month could be key, and maybe it will be clearer after that. For example, some countries could be ruled out, so it’s important to win the two games,” the 72-year-old gaffer concluded.
Bafana Bafana will face Lesotho on March 17 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane before taking on Benin Republic at the same venue, where the Cheetahs will be the designated home team.
