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Hugo Broos named a 32-man preliminary Bafana Bafana squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup last Thursday evening. Six players will be cut before the final announcement on Wednesday, when Broos will stand alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa and SAFA President Danny Jordaan at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria to confirm the 26 names travelling to North America. The squad departs for Mexico on May 31. South Africa's opening match is against host nation Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11. It is Bafana's first World Cup since 2010, when the tournament was on home soil.
The preliminary squad carries no major surprises in its headline selections. Ronwen Williams is captain and first-choice goalkeeper, a position settled since Broos appointed him as permanent skipper two years ago. His performance in Rabat on Sunday, saving a penalty in the CAF Champions League final that could have given AS FAR the title, goes into the World Cup preparation as the most recent evidence of his quality under pressure. Teboho Mokoena, who scored the stoppage-time half-volley in that same match, and Jayden Adams form the midfield core that Broos has built his system around. Both travel from Rabat today having just won a continental title.
Pirates and Sundowns Dominate
Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns have nine players each in the preliminary squad, a dominance that reflects the season both clubs have produced. Pirates won the Betway Premiership and the domestic treble. Sundowns won the CAF Champions League. Between them, they account for 18 of the 32 players Broos has selected. Kaizer Chiefs, who finished third in the league, have four players in the squad, as confirmed by iDiski Times and IOL. The concentration at the top two clubs is not new: it has been the pattern of Broos's tenure since he first identified that PSL consistency was his most reliable recruitment ground.
The Sundowns contingent arrives in Johannesburg today, returning from Morocco a day after the rest of the squad assembled. As confirmed by SAFA's official statement, the camp started on Monday with 24 players and the Sundowns group joins on Tuesday. The compressed timeline, five years of World Cup preparation reduced to a week between a continental final and a transatlantic departure, is one of the more unusual logistical challenges any South African squad has faced heading into a major tournament.
Rayners In, Cupido Out
The two selection calls generating the most discussion are straightforward in opposite directions. Iqraam Rayners is in. The Mamelodi Sundowns striker finished as the top South African scorer in the Betway Premiership with 12 goals, second overall in the division, and had been conspicuously absent from Broos's squads earlier in the season. His inclusion now, as confirmed by Times Live, reflects a practical acknowledgement that Bafana need a finisher at the tournament and Rayners has produced the evidence this season. He joins Lyle Foster, Oswin Appollis, Relebohile Mofokeng, Evidence Makgopa, Themba Zwane, and Tshepang Moremi as the squad's attacking options.
Keanu Cupido is not in the preliminary squad. The Sundowns centre-back, who played in the CAF Champions League final on Sunday and has been in consistently good form since January, was not included despite public calls for his selection, as reported by iDiski Times. Broos has Grant Kekana, Siyabonga Ngezana, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, and Ime Okon as his central defensive options. Kekana's experience and Ngezana's physicality are the established combination. Cupido's omission suggests Broos has settled on that pairing rather than accommodating a player whose club form this season has been strong but whose international caps remain limited.
The Group and What It Requires
Bafana are in Group A alongside Mexico, South Korea, and Czech Republic. The opening match against Mexico at the Azteca on June 11 is one of the most loaded fixtures of the group stage for any African nation at this tournament. The Azteca holds 87,000 people. Mexico, playing at home with everything the occasion carries in their football culture, will be the most hostile environment Broos's squad has faced. The Czech Republic fixture in Atlanta on June 15 and the South Korea match in Monterrey on June 19 offer more manageable prospects for points.
Broos's record since taking charge in 2021 is 24 wins, 19 draws and six defeats, with a FIFA ranking improvement from 75th to 61st, as confirmed by iDiski Times. He has built something real: a squad with a defensive identity, a clear game-management approach, and enough attacking quality to hurt teams who underestimate them. The World Cup will test whether that is enough at the level where underestimation does not exist. Final squad: Wednesday, May 27. Send-off match against Nicaragua: Friday, May 30, Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg. Departure for Mexico: May 31.
Full Preliminary Squad
Goalkeepers: Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Ricardo Goss (Swallows), Sipho Chaine (Kaizer Chiefs), Brandon Peterson (Luton Town). Defenders: Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Sundowns), Siyabonga Ngezana (Shakhtar Donetsk), Grant Kekana (Sundowns), Bongani Zungu (Amiens), Njabulo Ngcobo (Pirates), Terrence Mashego (Pirates), Thabiso Monyane (Pirates), Siyanda Xulu (free agent), Ime Okon (Akwa United). Midfielders: Teboho Mokoena (Sundowns), Jayden Adams (Sundowns), Brooklyn Poggenpoel (Pirates), Lebohang Maboe (Sundowns), Thalente Mbatha (Pirates), Sphephelo Sithole (Pirates). Forwards: Oswin Appollis (Pirates), Tshepang Moremi (Stellenbosch), Evidence Makgopa (Pirates), Lyle Foster (Burnley), Iqraam Rayners (Sundowns), Relebohile Mofokeng (Pirates), Themba Zwane (Sundowns), Patrick Maswanganyi (Pirates), Memo (Sundowns), Elias Mokwana (Sundowns), Asanele Velebayi (Sundowns), Kelebogile Sikwane (Pirates).
