Mosimane names Bafana squad for Guinea and Eritrea qualifiers

Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has named his final squad for the opening Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, keeping the core of the group that went to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America and adding new faces to it.

The squad was announced on Thursday, 17 September, and eNCA reported that some players from the World Cup group have been left out while new additions have come in.

South Africa begin their qualifying campaign against Guinea at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on 26 September. Four days later they meet Eritrea in Egypt, and they stay in the country for a friendly against Egypt as well.

A first home qualifier in Soweto

The Guinea fixture puts Bafana back in front of a home crowd at Orlando Stadium, the ground where so much of the country’s football memory sits. A qualifying opener at home is the kind of night that sets the tone for a campaign, and the coach has chosen continuity for it.

That choice says something about how Mosimane reads the group. A World Cup tournament compresses a squad fast, and players who came through it carry match sharpness and a shared understanding that a rebuilt side would have to find from scratch. Keeping most of them together means the first qualifier starts from a base rather than a blank page.

The new additions are the other half of the decision. A qualifying campaign runs across a longer window than a tournament, and a squad that never changes is a squad that stops improving. Bringing players in now, before the group stage settles, gives them time inside the setup rather than a rushed introduction later.

What the three matches ask of the squad

Three fixtures in roughly a week and a half, two of them in Egypt, is a test of depth as much as of the starting eleven. The trip to Egypt for the Eritrea qualifier and the friendly means travel, a different climate and a different pitch, and it means the coach will need more than eleven players he trusts.

For the players who were dropped, the message is plain and it is the ordinary one in international football. Form at club level is the route back, and the next window is the next chance.

For South African supporters, the sequence matters. A home qualifier against Guinea is the one they can attend, and the two matches in Egypt are the ones that will decide how comfortable the group looks before the campaign moves on.

The campaign ahead

Bafana Bafana’s qualifying group will be decided over the months that follow, and the opening window is where the points and the confidence are banked. Mosimane has had the squad announcement to make, and now he has the football to play.

The first date is 26 September at Orlando Stadium. The squad he has named is the one he will be judged on.

Source: eNCA, Pitso names final Afcon qualifier squad