Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will get an opportunity to look at a number of different players when his team face Tanzania in a friendly match at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Friday.
Broos’ team play one of their two friendlies on Friday when the East African side visit Polokwane before they take on Mozambique three days later.
The coach called a totally different squad with Mamelodi Sundowns players missing as they are preparing for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, giving the veteran tactician an opportunity to gauge a lot of new names before they resume their 2026 World Cup qualifiers away to Lesotho and at home to Nigeria in September.
Form guide
Bafana Bafana come into the game on the back of two 2-0 wins against Lesotho and Benin in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March and will be looking to maintain the momentum while Tanzania beat Congo 3-0 before losing 2-0 to Morocco during the same period.
Head-to-head
South Africa and Tanzania will be meeting for the fourth time on Friday and in their three previous matchups, they drew 1-1 in the Four Nations tournament in 2002, before Bafana Bafana won a friendly 1-0 in 2011 and in their last meeting in 2017, Taifa Stars won 1-0 in a Cosafa Cup clash.
Players to watch
Coach Broos has some of some exciting players in camp with youngsters such as Orlando Pirates trio Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Mohau Nkota and Relebohile Mofokeng while there are experienced heads like Luke le Roux, Fawaaz Basadien and Sinoxolo Kwayiba although most of them are relatively new into the national team.
Meanwhile, Tanzania have experienced stars like Simon Msuva (Al Talaba, Iraq), Selemani Mwalimu (Wydad AC, Morocco) and Alphonce Mabula (Shamakhi, Azerbaijan).
What have the coaches said?
Hugo Broos – South Africa
“We play friendly games. I think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to prove themselves to show their qualities for us to make evaluations after these two friendly games. Sundowns has always been very important in the national team. We will do it without the Sundowns players and having too many players from one club is not good.”
Hemedi Suleiman – Tanzania
“These are big matches for us, especially the one against South Africa, who are currently performing well. But we also have a strong team, so it's a good opportunity to see how we measure up ahead of CHAN. It's encouraging to get opportunities like these. We've become more competitive, and that's what Tanzanians should expect—positive results and strong performances in both the friendly and COSAFA games.”
Time and where to watch
The match will kick off at 19:30 on Friday June 6 and will be live on SABC Sport.
Predicted Bafana Bafana Lineup
Leaner; Mobbie, Basadien (C), Mbokazi, Sibisi; Le Roux, Mbatha, Maswanganyi; Mofokeng, Appollis, Cupido
