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Benni Mccarthy, Kenya National Team
Kiplagat Sang

Benni McCarthy predicts how far Bafana Bafana can go at the World Cup 'Hugo Broos is world class coach, and with Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, how can we go wrong?'

Although club football dominates headlines currently, South Africans are also looking ahead as Bafana are set to take part in the upcoming global bonanza. The Sea Robbers and Masandawana are in a tight battle to win the Premier Soccer League title, the same teams that are expected to contribute the majority of players to the national team.

  • Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana, December 2025Backpage

    McCarthy assesses Bafana's World Cup chances

    After a gruelling World Cup qualification process, Bafana finally topped their group and won a ticket to the World Cup finals set to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

    This will be a major tournament that the Mzansi side will be taking part in within a year after recently featuring in the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

    Although the Hugo Broos-led team was knocked out in the Round of 16 by Cameroon, McCarthy believes South Africa will have a far better campaign in the global showpiece.

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  • Benni McCarthy, Kenya, June 2025Benni McCarthy, Kenya, June 2025

    'We can do it'

    “Listen, I think we can do it, man. We have a world-class coach, the first coach to help us qualify for the AFCON [in a long time], who took us to the semi-final [in 2023] and qualified for the World Cup,” McCarthy said, as per FARPost.

    “So, he came with a pedigree [having won AFCON with Cameroon], and he has proven it. So, we have a good team, a world-class coach; Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns as the winning teams fighting for the title [Betway Premiership]. Hopefully, this goes to the wire.

    “With those two teams, how can we go wrong? I’m pure South African, and I’m optimistic. A lot of people think I’m sceptical because I’m not the coach of Bafana, but when we don’t have success, it hurts me as much as it hurts every single one of you. We were all born in this country, and we feel it more than anyone else," he concluded.

  • Teboho Mokoena, Iqraam Rayners and Aubrey Modiba, Mamelodi SundownsBackpage

    Pirates, Sundowns dominate AFCON squad

    Just like how Pirates and Sundowns dominated the squad that represented the country in Morocco, the World Cup-bound team is expected to have a majority of its players from the PSL rivals.

    McCarthy's belief that South Africa will have a better outing is buoyed by the fact that Downs and Bucs are the well-performing teams in the PSL.

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  • Hugo Broos, Bafana BafanaBackpage

    Panama friendlies

    Bafana will play the South Americans twice later in March as part of their preparations for the World Cup finals.

    Head coach Broos has already named his preliminary squad of 38 players, with a majority representation from Sundowns and Pirates.

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