Nkosinathi Sibisi ruled out of Bafana Bafana’s 2027 AFCON qualifier against Guinea

Bafana Bafana defender Nkosinathi Sibisi will miss South Africa’s opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea after suffering an injury in training.

Coach Pitso Mosimane confirmed the Orlando Pirates defender’s absence after the team completed its final session at Orlando Stadium on the afternoon before the Group D match against the West African side.

Sibisi has been part of the national team for the past four to five years, but will now be unavailable for the start of the qualifying campaign.

“Setback on Sibisi because he’s got an injury and he has not been training the last two days. He got a knock at training, so we are monitoring it. The doctor says he will miss this one,” Mosimane told the media.

The injury is the second setback for Bafana Bafana this week. Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Lebohang Maboe has also been ruled out, leaving Mosimane without two players ahead of the opening fixture.

Mosimane said the squad had been selected with enough depth to deal with injuries during the camp.

“Injuries are part of professional sport, hence you select enough numbers because you don’t know what you will have or what you are going to face,” he said.

“Thanks God we selected enough. You know Lebo Maboe is also out, hence we select as much as we can so that we can go through the hurdles without panicking. That’s what we have. So far, so good. The camp is good.”