Ever since Bafana Bafana won a bronze medal at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, they have been afraid to play. This was again evident in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup, where they lost 2-0 to Mexico. Against Czechia, they must throw caution to the wind.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is undoing all his hard work with the senior men's South African soccer side. Ironically, he is doing this by actively trying not to undo all his hard work since he arrived in South Africa five years ago and resuscitated the team.
Against Czechia on Thursday, 18 June, Bafana Bafana will have to shake off the most recent example of this phenomenon, which began at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Their slim hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time depend on a positive result in the match, which kicks off at 6pm.
Bravado required
Bafana Bafana went into their first Fifa World Cup appearance in 16 years shaking in their soccer boots. At least that was the message that Broos sent to the world with an overly conservative starting lineup, which featured as many as five defenders.
Moreover, the three midfielders deployed against the Mexicans a week ago were not attacking by nature. Sphephelo Sithole was essentially a sixth defensive player as his job was to protect the backline as a defensive midfielder. He struggled to do this under immense Mexican pressure and was eventually sent off...
