South Africa Suffer Major Setback Ahead of Must-Win Game Against Rwanda

• Bafana Bafana have been rocked with a late blow ahead of their final World Cup qualifier against Rwanda on Tuesday evening
• South Africa released an official statement about the issue hours before the must-win fixture against the Wasps
• Bafana Bafana fans also shared their thoughts after a statement was released on social media

Bafana Bafana have been hit with a major setback ahead of the final round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Rwanda on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

South Africa hope to secure the top spot in Group C but must beat Rwanda at the Mbombela Stadium to stand a chance of sealing a qualification ticket.
However, South Africa will require assistance from Nigeria, who must either win or draw against Benin. In the case of a draw, Bafana Bafana will need to secure a two-goal victory over Rwanda.

Bafana Bafana hit with major setback

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Bafana Bafana will be without Burnley striker Lyle Foster for today’s match against Rwanda.
The former Orlando Pirates forward featured in the last match against Zimbabwe but had to be withdrawn from the squad after consultation with the Bafana Bafana medical team. A replacement was immediately called up.
Foster scored one of the goals in South Africa's 3-0 win against Lesotho and was also an important figure in the 1-1 draw against the Super Eagles in the last international break.

Bafana Bafana took to their official X account to release a statement about Foster’s withdrawal from the squad, and Stellenbosch FC striker Ashley Cupido was called up as his replacement.

"Lyle Foster has been withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana matchday squad due to an injury. After consultation with the medical team, a decision was taken to withdraw him. Ashley Cupido has been called up as his replacement," Bafana Bafana’s statement reads on X.

The news about Foster's injury and Cupido's call-up as his replacement sparked different reactions from South Africans on social media.

Tsushi_TT said:

"From bad to worse Cupido won't give us anything, he will just be running around. We're done, we're not going anywhere."

Theodore Wa'Afrika wrote:

"Against Tanzania, this guy played 90 minutes, the game ended 0-0 today, we turn to him for goaa ? anikho serious."

Ciniso_dhlamini shared:

"🤣🤣on the day where Bafana needs goals ? No offense to Cupido but Grobler was a better replacement. This is the same coach that once criticised Zwane and was stubborn until Zwane proved him that age is just a number."

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NG04 commented:

"Hugo Broos doesn’t take us serious, we are going to our most crucial game with Makgopa as our main striker and Cupido as our back up striker, they scored only one goal combined this season of which was a penalty. We have a striker like Grobler with 9 goals this season left out."

Nkosii Gumz reacted:

"The despised Mabasa would've been a better replacement. I pray Cupido scores though. We really need to win.🙏"

Don Juluka added:

"Our striker options are Makgopa and Cupido? Together they’ve only scored one goal this entire season. 😭 While Bradley Grobler and Tashreeq Mathews scored 6 and 4 goals respectively."

Chelle declares war on Benin

Briefly News also reported that Nigeria national team coach Eric Chelle has declared war ahead of the Super Eagles' clash against the Benin Republic.

The Malian tactician has tasked his Nigeria to go all out for the three points, with the hope of qualifying for the World Cup.

Source: Briefly News