Bafana’s heroics must spark a football renaissance

The South African football team have defied the logic of global spreadsheets, analysts and soccer pundits by doing the unthinkable and creating probably the biggest upset of the 2026 Fifa World Cup to date.

- Lucky Nkhoma

They ripped up the betting books and made a mockery of so-called bookies.

Against every cynical prediction, Bafana Bafana marched into the round of 32. For a nation that has spent years navigating footballing doldrums, watching Hugo Broos’s men claim their rightful place on the world stage is a sporting miracle.