Pirates’ star Mbule elated after Bafana Bafana return – ‘It’s for me to work to stay here’

Bafana Bafana suffered a double blow recently after Patrick Maswanganyi and Ime Okon were forced out of the forthcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria, respectively.

Hugo Broos replaced them with Orlando Pirates midfielder Sipho Mbule and Stellenbosch defender Thabo Moloisane who played a crucial role in the international matches played against Tanzania and Mozambique in June's international matches.

Master Chef has represented Mzansi in all the youth setups from U17 up to the senior team. It is a massive opportunity for the former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder who is keen on now making the position his own. 

Mbule happy to work his way back to Bafana Bafana

“I’m happy to be back in the national team. As you all know, it’s been a while without wearing national team colours. I’m glad to have worked my way back to the national team, now it’s for me to work again to stay here,” he told the Buccaneers media team.

South Africa are on 13 points, six more than Nigeria, who are fourth, and seven more than fifth-placed Lesotho. Mbule knows how vital the six points are, “We all know how important these two games are for our country. We wanna win both games and qualify for the World Cup,” the 28-year-old concluded.

The versatile midfielder was added to the Sea Robbers' squad at the beginning of the season, following his release from Masandawana. Bucs started the campaign with two Premier Soccer League losses, but have since recovered. They are in the MTN8 final, where they will play Stellenbosch.

On Sunday, they collected their third straight PSL win after beating Chippa United 3-0.