Date, Kick-Off Time and Venue

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Bafana Bafana will resume their FIFA 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers this week when they battle neighbours Lesotho.

Hugo Broos named his 23-man squad to do battle with Likuena and Benin in the coming days. The squad consists mostly of Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates players as well as a few Europe-based stars.

Last week, Broos and team manager Vincent Tseka visited Polokwane a few days ago to inspect the pitch first-hand and the coach said he was happy with what he saw at Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Bafana looking to bury Lesotho in World Cup qualifiers

There were initial concerns over the readiness of the pitch after the surface was damaged following a music concert in December last year.

“The moment they told me about Polokwane, the first thing I said, because I saw games played there on that pitch, I said first thing, if the pitch is not better, we don’t go and people started working and the pitch is fantastic,” Broos said.

“I was there last week, and beautiful, really beautiful. We don’t have an excuse if we don’t have the result we want against Lesotho, saying ‘yes the pitch was not good’. No, no, no, the pitch is fantastic, and people did fantastic work and I’m very happy with it.”

When and what time does Bafana play Lesotho?

Broos’ men host Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday (21 March). Kick-off is set for 18:00 and the match will be televised on SABC and SuperSport channels.

Having played four matches in the World Cup qualifiers, Bafana sit second in their group with seven points. A win could potentially see them jump to first with 10 points depending on how Rwanda do against Nigeria.

Out of the four matches, Friday’s clash with Lesotho is the easiest for Bafana. On paper, South Africa are favourites but Likuena has held Nigeria and Zimbabwe in these qualifiers.