Hugo Broos Drops Makgopa, Mabasa, 12 Others Ahead of WCQ
- Hugo Broos has released his final 23-man squad for Bafana Bafana's next 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this month
- The Belgian tactician will lead the South Africa men's national team against Lesotho and the Benin Republic during the next international break
- The former Cameroon national team coach cuts off three Orlando Pirates star and a Kaizer Chiefs player from preliminary list
Hugo Broos has announced his final 23-man Bafana Bafana squad for South Africa's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and the Benin Republic this month.
Bafana Bafana will lock horns with their neighbours Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday, March 21, 2025, before travelling to Ivory Coast to battle against Gernot Rohr's Benin Republic four days later.
South Africa need all six points to regain the top spot from Rwanda, who are on seven points alongside Bafana Bafana and Benin in Group C.
Source: Twitter
Broos drops 14 players from Bafana Bafana squad
Earlier this month, Broos released a preliminary Bafana Bafana squad with 37 players, but he has announced his final squad for the forthcoming qualifiers.
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Orlando Pirates stars Tshegofatso Mabasa, Evidence Makgopa and Deano Van Rooyen all missed out on the final cut.
Kaizer Chiefs star Rushwin Dortley who was the only Amakhosi player on the preliminary list failed to make the final cut due to the recent knee injury he suffered. He has been ruled out of action for the rest of the season.
Source: Twitter
Stellenbosch FC had their first-choice goalkeeper Sage Stephens missing out on the final cut alongside Ashley Cupdio and Devin Titus.
New faces in the preliminary squad, Khulumani Ndamane and Samukelo Kabini were also dropped from the final list, with SuperSport Uniited's defender Sydney Mobbie making it.
Percy Tau is also back in the squad after going months without playing for his club and missing out on selection in the national team.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns star joined a new club in the January transfer window and has been playing regularly in the Qatari league.
Full list of 14 players who were omitted from Hugo Broos' final Bafana Bafana squad:
Goalkeeper: Sage Stephens (Stellenbosch FC)
Defenders: Khulumani Ndamane (TS Galaxy), Rushwin Dortley (Kaizer Chiefs, injured), Deano Van Rooyen (Orlando Pirates), Samukelo Kabini (TS Galaxy)
Midfielders: Sinoxolo Kwayiba (Chippa United), Ndamulelo Maphangule (Polokwane City), Luke Le Roux (Varnamo), Siphesihle Mkhize (Sekhukhune United)
Forwards: Devin Titus (Stellenbosch FC), Evidence Makgopa (Orlando Pirates), Tshegofatso Mabasa (Orlando Pirates), Ashley Cupido (Stellenbosch FC), Mihlali Mayambela (Aris Limassol).
All the 14 players dropped are still on standby and might be recalled if any of the stars in the final cut get injured before the international break.
South Africa World Cup qualifier results so far
South Africa are aiming to return to the World Cup, where they last participated in 2010 as hosts.
After four games, Bafana Bafana sits in second position in Group C with seven points, the same as log leaders Rwanda, who enjoy a superior goal difference.
Two wins, one draw, and a loss put Hugo Broos' men in a very good position to qualify for the next World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
Recall that South Africa defeated Benin Republic (2-1) on match day one and also beat Zimbabwe (3-1) on match day four.
The AFCON 2023 bronze-winning team also picked up a massive point away from home against the Super Eagles of Nigeria on match day three after a 1-1 draw.
Their only defeat in the qualifiers so far came in the 2-0 loss to table-toppers Rwanda on match day two.
How qualifying for the World Cup works in Africa
The World Cup qualifiers in Africa will be played across two rounds. The first round which is currently ongoing, will be contested in the form of a group stage, with nine groups of six teams each.
Each team will play two matches, home and away, against each of their opponents and the top finisher in each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The second round will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
Broos announces final Bafana Bafana squad ahead of WCQ
Briefly News earlier reported that Hugo Broos released the final Bafana Bafana squad list for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and the Benin Republic.
The former Club Brugge coach dropped some top Premier Soccer League stars from is initial list, with some foreign based players also included.
Nomso Obiajuru was a contributing writer in this article
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Proofreading by Jimmy Modise, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
Raphael Abiola (Sports editor) Raphael Abiola is a Nigerian Sports Journalist with over seven years of experience. He obtained a B.Tech degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, in 2015. Raphael previously worked as a football editor at Stakegains (2016-2018) and a content editor with Opera News Nigeria (2018-2023). Raphael then worked as an Editor for the Local Desk at Sports Brief (2023-2024). Reach him via email at raphael.abiola@sportsbrief.com.
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