'Nobody is a regular at Bafana,' Broos insists after Mofokeng and Adams impress in win against Lesotho

Nobody is guaranteed a place in Bafana Bafana's starting line-up including two young stars, Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams, who started and scored for the first time in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in Polokwane on Friday.

That was what Bafana coach Hugo Broos told the media when he was asked if Orlando Pirates sensation Mofokeng, 20, is now a shoo-in to start for Bafana after scoring Bafana's opener on the hour mark in the intense match against Likwena.

Broos, who has built a strong Bafana side that is now followed wherever it plays in the country because of consistent results that have seen them ranked number 10 in Africa, said every Bafana player, including Mofokeng and Mamelodi Sundowns' midfielder Adams, 23, knows they have to work hard to earn a starting berth in Bafana.   

“I can tell you that nobody is a regular Bafana Bafana player. We're 23, that is first. Second, I said also before as a coach you have to see what the right moment is to bring a player in. And I think this game was the right moment for Rele,” he said.

“He played a very good game and this is what we need. When you see some young guy in the team you only have hope that he can succeed because when he doesn't imagine. Imagine if Rele played a bad game and then everybody will tell you maybe it's too soon or maybe he's not so go ... blah blah blah.

“So, you have to help a little bit the player in that, and I think I did that today with Rele. For me he played a very good game, but this was also an opportunity to do that. You can't do that against Nigeria or for the first time in Benin because those are different games.

“For my side, I have to watch and see when the right moment is. Sometimes it doesn't succeed but today you saw Rele, and he had the confidence from my side, and he confirmed it and I'm very happy with it.”

Broos showered praise on both Adams and Mofokeng, saying he's never doubted they're the future of Bafana and are players who can help the national team in the coming years, including in next year's World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico if Bafana qualifies for the first time since 2022.

Bafana's victory over Lesotho took them to the top of Group C with 10 points, two ahead of Benin, a team Bafana meet in Ivory Coast on Tuesday.

“You got two new young boys (Mofokeng and Adams) in the team, and they scored both.

“This is also something very important for those guys when you play your first game, first 90 minutes and you can play like they played, and you scored ...

“I think you succeeded as a coach when you do that. I'm not proud of them too much for sure, but I'm so proud of the team that I have, really. This is really a pleasure to be a coach for them. It's a fantastic group, they're very good players with a very good mentality.

“I see also the new guys like Meshack (Maphangule) and Vuyo (Letlapa), it's like they were always with us. This is because of the group. This is because of those players who are already there. 

“Again, I'm very proud of the performances of Rele and Jayden but I'm certainly as proud of the performance of the (whole) team today.”

Bafana will take a charter flight to Ivory Coast on Sunday to play Benin in Abidjan, something that Broos said will be in Bafana's favour because Benin won't have their fans in a country where Bafana impressed everyone last year when they won a bronze in the 2023 Afcon.

Benin and Rwanda missed a chance to remain on par with Bafana when they drew and lost their fourth-round matches respectively to Zimbabwe and Nigeria. Benin surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Zimbabwe in Durban while Rwanda were beaten 2-0 by the Super Eagles in their own back yard on Friday. 

A win for Bafana in Ivory Coast will bring them much closer to qualifying with four matches remaining against Nigeria (home), Rwanda (home), Zimbabwe (away) and Lesotho (away) later in the year. 

Bafana might play both Zimbabwe and Lesotho in South Africa because these Southern African neighbours don't have stadiums that have been approved by Fifa and Caf.