Broos Aware Of Nigeria’s Strength Ahead Of World Cup Qualifier

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has acknowledged the strength of their upcoming opponents, Nigeria, ahead of their FIFA World Cup match qualifier scheduled to take place at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday. 

“Nigeria is a very good team and a much better team than the opponent we faced today. So, we have to take measures and tactical things like we did today,” said Broos, whose side beat Lesotho 3-0 at the same venue on Friday. 

The 1996 African champions will be looking to continue their winning form against the Super Eagles, whom they drew 1-1 with in their previous encounter in Nigeria last year. 

Bafana are currently the log leaders in Group C with 16 points after seven games, while Nigeria sits in fourth position with seven points after six games. 

They will face the Super Eagles side that beat Rwanda 1-0 at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday.

Broos is confident that his team can find the right tactics to beat Nigeria on Tuesday. 

“We will see in the next days, we will try to find the right team to beat Nigeria on Tuesday,” he said. 

The Belgian mentor was impressed by the performance of his players in the match against Lesotho, particularly Zuko Mdunyelwa, who made his debut for Bafana under Broos. Mdunyelwa was called on to take the field after Nyiko Mobbie picked up an injury and was taken off in the early stages of the game. 

“What I saw in training this week gave me confidence, and also the new boys are doing well,” Broos added. 

“When you have to comment about Zuko, who entered after 15 minutes, and it’s not easy to enter the game at this intensity when it’s your first game. 

“But I think he did very well, and I was confident the moment he came in because what I saw on training gave me confidence.”

Despite the injury setback, Bafana will be looking to continue their winning form and move closer to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.