Ouaddou proud as Pirates stars set to join Bafana duty

ABDESLAM Ouaddou is pleased that most of his regulars will be away on national duty in the coming days, saying there's no greater honour for a player than being called up to represent their national team.

- MIHLALI BALEKA

Bafana Bafana will assemble for a training camp ahead of their penultimate and final 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers on Monday morning in Roodepoort, where they'll stay until Thursday. They will travel to Durban on Thursday morning, ahead of Friday night’s match against Zimbabwe at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Hugo Broos’ charges will then fly to Mbombela on Saturday morning to prepare for Tuesday’s final showdown against Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium.

Bafana are second in Group C, tied with leaders Benin on 14 points. They relinquished top spot after being docked three points and handed a 3-0 defeat by Fifa for contravening a disciplinary code by fielding an ineligible Teboho Mokoena during their qualifier in March.

However, not all hope is lost. Bafana can still top the group and qualify for the global showpiece - provided they win both of their remaining qualifiers convincingly and Benin drop points against Rwanda and Nigeria.