World Cup Qualifying: Shabalala determined to help South Africa qualify

Kaizer Chiefs forward Mduduzi Shabalala has revealed his plans to help South Africa qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries; with the main host country of matches being the United States, while Canada and Mexico will be the auxiliary hosts.

Bafana Bafana will return for the qualifiers with two crucial matches against Lesotho and Nigeria. The Hugo Broos-led side will first face Lesotho away from home at the Free State Stadium on Friday, September 5, and then host the Super Eagles at the same venue on Tuesday, September 9.

“This [being in the Bafana squad for two crucial World Cup qualifiers] is a big opportunity for me in my career. It’s everyone’s dream to play for their country, so I am here to help the team win the games to qualify for the World Cup,” Shabalala, who’d never made the senior national team squad before, said as quoted by Sowetan.

“It was a good opportunity and good platform to be part of the Cosafa Cup, to showcase and maybe prove to the coach that I also want to be in the first team of Bafana. Finally the coach saw me, here I am today and I am happy to have made the squad.”

Bafana Bafana are sitting top of Group C with 13 points after six matches and they are followed by second-placed Rwanda and Benin, who are both on eight points.

The Super Eagles are fourth with seven points followed by Lesotho (six points) and Zimbabwe (four points).

⚽ Follow Pan-Africa Football across platforms for real-time news and stories.