Zimbabwe coach draws inspiration from Hugo Broos' Bafana Bafana ahead of 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign resumption - 'We need to at least copy what they do'

Zimbabwe’s national team coach Michael Nees has made a candid acknowledgement regarding Bafana Bafana and its coach Hugo Broos ahead of the resumption of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign.

South Africa has experienced a strong start to the World Cup qualifiers, securing seven points from their first four matches, and had a successful 2024 calendar year under the Belgian coach.

Conversely, the Warriors have not had the best start to the campaign. They have currently gathered two points from four games.

Nonetheless, Nees is confident that Zimbabwe possesses the ability to turn the current situation around and qualify for the jointly hosted 2026 World Cup in North America.

"Honestly, it’s not yet all lost in the World Cup qualifiers. We have to do everything to turn the shape around in our matches against Benin and Nigeria in March," Nees told FARPost.

"But right now, Bafana Bafana is the model. We need to at least copy what they do and study how they do it. Their courage and fighting spirit is what we all want to have.

"At best, we have to believe in ourselves, which is exactly what they have been doing since their coach took over. We don’t know yet when the players are going to be available for us. December has a lot of uncertainty," explained the German tactician. 

"Basically, we have three groups of players: those outside of Africa, players in South Africa, and players here in Zimbabwe. We need to know in order to plan. When are these players available? But it can only be done if we know," he added. 

"Clearly, we must all pull in one direction to try and turn the ship around in the World Cup qualification. We are in the last position. When we select players, we need players who are match fit. We need them to have played at least three or four league matches."

Despite the shaky commencement to the Fifa World Cup qualifiers, Nees’ Warriors have secured a place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which will occur in Morocco from December 2025 to January 2026.

Meanwhile, Broos’ team qualified for the forthcoming Afcon finals without suffering a defeat during the qualifying rounds. Bafana also claimed third place in the latest edition of the Afcon.

Zimbabwe, with talented players like Khama Billiat and Marshall Munetsi amongst others, will need to exert effort to alter their situation in the Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Nees-coached team finds themselves at the bottom of the table, whereas Bafana occupies the second position, tied on seven points with the current leaders Rwanda and third-placed Benin.

Bafana will host Lesotho on March 17, 2025, while Zimbabwe will resume their World Cup qualifying journey against Benin two days following the SA match.

Nees and his team will be aiming to enhance their lacklustre start to the campaign. They will also strive for a successful run in the Afcon taking place in Morocco next year.