Kaizer Chiefs legend claims Bafana Bafana ‘didn’t hurt and were worse’ after World Cup elimination

Bafana Bafana’s run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup was ended on Sunday night after a 1-0 defeat to co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles.

South Africa made the knockout phase for the first time in their history, and were paired with Canada. Despite dominating the Round of 32 fixture with 58% possession, they failed to take their chances.

Hugo Broos’ men were eventually punished in the 92nd minute as the unmarked Stephen Eustaquio unleashed a rocket that was too much for captain, Ronwen Williams, to keep out. While Canada celebrated the victory and a place in the Round of 16 for their maiden Round of 16 ticket, Bafana Bafana were reeling with pain.

However, according to Kaizer Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo, South Africa did not live up to expectations. He argues they did not rise to the occasion when needed and ended up paying the price.

Bafana Bafana were worse!

“It’s so unfortunate we lost. But I must say that from my observation, I think mentally the boys were not proper. Secondly, we didn’t hurt Canada at all, because if you were to ask me the whole 90 minutes, we were worse than the second half of the Czechia game,” Khumalo told SABC3.

“[Against] Czech Republic, second half, we might look much better, but we couldn’t pick up from that second half up until this game. How then do we say, they tried and do it, but didn’t hurt them, not at all.

“Because I would like to say, if mentally the boys, you could see a team that is mentally prepared, physically prepared, but everything, it was a little bit casual.

“Some errors there, loss of possession unnecessarily, one touch was not okay. But yes, we can polish it and say yeah they tried to play it,” he concluded.