Hugo Broos and his Bafana Bafana charges will aim to forget as quickly as possible their most recent match. The South Africans were downed 2-0 by Rwanda during a Fifa World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

The defeat of the South Africans came as a surprise — especially as Broos and his men were unbeaten in 12 games, dating back to June 2022 when they were vanquished by Morocco in an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification encounter.

By contrast, the victory was Rwanda’s first in 11 home matches. It was also Rwanda’s first win in a year. Not to mention that the two goals that won the game, courtesy of Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha, were the first that the Wasps have managed on home soil since 2021.

To say the Wasps’ stings left Bafana Bafana shell-shocked would be an understatement. Though they eventually managed to find their footing at a waterlogged Huye Stadium in the city of Butare, it was too late to have any impact on the result. 

South Africa’s coach Broos had aired his concerns on the synthetic pitch in the build-up to the qualification match for the 2026 soccer World Cup, calling it “a very bad synthetic pitch”.

Percy Tau of South Africa challenges Emmanuel Imanishimwe of Rwanda during their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers match at Huye Stadium in Butare, Rwanda on 21 November, 2023. (Photo: Julius Ntare/BackpagePix)

Hopes washed away

Heavy rain meant that by the time the match kicked off, the pitch was more suited for South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker to practice her breaststroke than it was for playing a game of soccer.

“When you see the first 20 minutes, it’s unbelievable that a qualifier for the World Cup is played on such a pitch. It’s impossible,” Broos stated.

“But ok, it is what it is… The Confederation of Africa Football and Fifa have to be stricter on the rules where you are going to play. We are talking about professional football. We’re talking about qualifiers of the biggest tournament [in the world]. And then you play on such a pitch.”

In the second half, the ground staff did their best to remove the excess water on the pitch. However, there was still moisture that prevented the South Africans from playing their intricate and short passing game.

Nonetheless, they persisted with this tactic. Whereas a change in tactics might have seen them salvage a draw, at the very least. They were certainly better quality than the home side, man for man.

Themba Zwane of South Africa is challenged by Thierry Manzi of Rwanda during their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match at Huye Stadium in Butare, Rwanda on 21 November, 2023. (Photo: Julius Ntare/BackpagePix)

Broos also spoke about the travelling that went into their trip to Rwanda, which included a few hours of flying, followed by another few hours of road travel. Though he said it was not an excuse for their loss, he suggested that it was a contributing factor.  

“We’re talking about professional football. And this pitch is not professional. Plus, you don’t make your opponent travel three hours from an airport to their destination,” Broos told journalists.

“I will not say it’s the reason we lost the game. Not at all. But those things have to change. We’re in 2023,” he added.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Hugo Broos — Bafana’s divisive yet efficient coach gets SA back on Afcon stage with World Cup in sights

Something that will have undoubtedly changed before the next batch of World qualifiers, scheduled for the first half of 2024, is Bafana Bafana’s ability to adapt to whatever conditions are thrown their way.

This will be particularly important if South Africa is to appear in a first men’s World Cup since 2010. Then, they qualified by virtue of being hosts. But the country has not qualified for a soccer World Cup through this avenue since 2002.

Hugo Broos, coach of Bafana Bafana and Torsten Spittler, coach of Rwanda shake hands during the 2026 Fifa World Cup Qualifier between Rwanda and South Africa at Huye Stadium in Butare, Rwanda on 21 November, 2023. (Photo: Julius Ntare/BackpagePix)

Missed opportunity

In their opening match of the latest World Cup qualifiers, Bafana Bafana managed a 2-1 win over Benin in Durban on Saturday, 18 November. A victory over Rwanda would have seen them take control of their qualification group, with two wins from two games.

Instead, they now lag behind group leaders Rwanda. After two games played by the six teams in Group C, the Wasps are at the summit with four points. South Africa sits second. On three points.

Group favourites Nigeria are on two points after drawing their first two matches versus Lesotho and Zimbabwe. A defiant Broos said it is still too early to quantify the damage of Bafana’s defeat to Rwanda.

“It is only a defeat. There are still eight games to go. You only pay the bill in two years. So, we will see,” the 71-year-old Belgian said. DM