Bafana Bafana claimed a very important win against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on Tuesday night in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

On Tuesday night South Africa beat the Warriors 3-1 at the Toyota Stadium. Iqraam Rayners scored the first goal within the first 30 seconds, but Tawanda Chirewa equalised a minute later.

In the second half the former Bloemfontein Celtic midfielder, Thapelo Morena, scored a brace of goals to lead South Africa to the victory.

The crowd in Bloemfontein rose to the occasion and came out in their numbers to support South Africa and in the result of the sold-out crowd was that it served as an extra player for Bafana.

Following the match, the Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, said the capacity crowd was the best he has experienced in South Africa and he feels that they should come to the city more often to play their games.

“I'm also happy having played here in the stadium with a fantastic crowd,” said Broos.

“You see what a crowd can do when they are behind the players - there were difficult moments, but when you have a crowd like this you go over the limit and we saw in the second half we got more and more confidence and we played better. It was just a fantastic evening.”

“This public was very grateful and this is something that makes me very happy. You also saw after the game they wanted to see us back. They are really good supporters in Bloemfontein, and I think we have to think about playing more games here in future because tonight it was fantastic.

“In my three years as the Bafana coach, I haven't experienced an atmosphere like in this stadium. It just shows that you can deliver good performances when you have the public supporting you like this.”

The win moved Bafana Bafana up to second in the Group C standings on seven points.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport