South Africa’s preparations for their final 2026 World Cup qualifiers suffered a setback after two key players picked up injuries ahead of the fixtures against Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
Head coach Hugo Broos confirmed that Orlando Pirates winger Relebohile Mofokeng and Stellenbosch striker Iqraam Rayners miss the games after sustaining injuries over the weekend.
Their absences forced Broos to call up Mduduzi Shabalala of Kaizer Chiefs and Evidence Makgopa of Orlando Pirates as replacements.
“First of all, some news about the selection. So, we had to replace Rele Mofokeng because of the injury he got on Saturday and replaced him with [Mduduzi] Shabalala,” Broos told reporters.
The coach added that Lyle Foster and Sithole had not yet joined the camp but were set to arrive soon.
“Secondly, there are two players who did not arrive because they played yesterday, that was [Lyle] Foster and Sithole. So, they will arrive tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon we will be complete to do this training,” Broos added.
The injuries come at a critical time as Bafana Bafana look to secure back-to-back wins to book their ticket to next year’s World Cup.
The clash with Zimbabwe on Friday will be fiercely contested, with both nations fighting to stay in contention.
