Despite garnering seven points from four matches to occupy the second spot in Group C of the FIFA 2028 World Cup qualifiers, South Africa coach Hugo Broos has admitted that the winner of the group would not emerge until the final matches.
Nigeria had a shock loss to Benin on Monday which posed as a good result for South Africa who edged Zimbabwe 3-1 at home, but coach Broos has cautioned the Rainbow Nation to lower the excitement for now.
Coming into the qualifiers, Nigeria would have been seen as the heavy favourites but now find themselves fifth out of six in a group also featuring Lesotho and Rwanda.
Broos said it was a testament to the quality of the so-called ‘minnows’ that the group has been so competitive.
“Normally when you see the draw of the group, you know that Nigeria will be your biggest opponent to be first in the group,” Broos said.
“Nigeria have played three draws and have played two home games and that’s not good. You need to win your home games first and then see if you can take some points outside.”
Broos acknowledged that Group C contained mostly smaller teams, but that fact would not make it any easier for Bafana.
“Our group is not a group of top countries, but it is a tricky group. You saw the results now after three games, it is unbelievable. The biggest change, even in Afcon, is that the little countries progressed a lot.
“Teams that were in the second and third round, you normally never expect in the AFCON and this is the difficulty in this group.
“This is the problem for all the teams. Any team can take points from any other team. It will be tough until the last match, I don’t think it will be decided early.”