Mosimane raises concerns over Bafana Bafana’s lack of striking options

Pitso Mosimane says Bafana Bafana have sufficient depth in defence and midfield but remain short of experienced, reliable goalscorers as they continue their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Mosimane began his second spell as South Africa coach with Saturday’s 2-1 Group D victory over Guinea at Orlando Stadium. His side face Eritrea in their second Afcon qualifier of the Fifa international break at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Wednesday at 6pm SA time.

South Africa’s strikers have not scored in their past five matches, a run that began with the opening game of the 2026 Fifa World Cup against Mexico at Estadio Azteca in June.

That sequence continued against Guinea, with defenders Ime Okon and Samukele Kabini providing the goals. In the four preceding World Cup matches, Teboho Mokoena scored in the 1-1 draw with Czechia in Atlanta and winger Thapelo Maseko netted in the 1-0 win over South Korea in Monterrey.

That victory took Bafana into the knockout stages for the first time, but they failed to score in their 1-0 last-32 defeat by co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles.

Mosimane wants to increase his options across the squad, although he acknowledged that the same strength is not available in attack.

“I think [Mbekezeli] Mbokazi is back training [at Chicago Fire], let him play a match or two. Let’s stack these players and have three left-backs, three right-backs, five centrebacks and five midfielders,” he said.

“I wish I could say that with the strikers. I don’t really have that much in terms of experience.”

The current camp features three matches, giving Mosimane an opportunity to assess more players before Sunday’s friendly against Egypt at Cairo International Stadium. The coach selected 30 players to provide cover for injuries, strengthen squad depth and help him become more familiar with the leading candidates for the national team.

Left-back Aubrey Modiba was forced off against Guinea with a tight hamstring, but Mosimane believes he has adequate cover in that position.

“Aubrey is overloaded but we have Kabini and Kamogelo Sebelebele [the right-back man-of-the-match against Guinea] is younger and he can take load. Aubrey has a tight hamstring, which is not nice for us but we still have Fawaaz Basadien and Kabini,” he said.

“Hence the 30 players. You can see now people are falling off but we just played one match. I know it’s not easy [financially] for Safa to give me 30 players but if you want to be at this level, this is the reality.”

Mosimane said he would have preferred four matches during the break, but wanted to maintain good relationships with clubs, including Glasgow Rangers, where defender Olwethu Makhanya has been impressing.

“I want to forge a relationship with the teams to give them their players before the Fifa break ends. This is so that when I ask for a favour, they should return the favour,” he said.

After Eritrea, Bafana play Kenya home and away in November, before meeting Guinea away and Eritrea at home in March next year.

The 2027 Afcon will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The three hosts are taking part in qualifying to play competitive matches, rather than to compete for qualification. In groups containing a host nation, only one other team will qualify for the tournament.