Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has been dealt another massive setback after Iqraam Rayners withdrew from the team due to medical reasons. He has been replaced by Evidence Makgopa.
“Iqraam Rayners has been withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana camp due to medical reasons. He was released back to his club this morning. Evidence Makgopa has been called up as his replacement,” SAFA said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
Bafana are set to face Zimbabwe and Rwanda in their penultimate and final 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, in Durban and Mbombela, on Friday and next Tuesday respectively. Both games are scheduled for a 6 PM kick-off.
The South African senior men’s team need to win both matches convincingly if they are to finish top of Group C and automatically qualify for the global showpiece for the first time since 2002 — having qualified for the 2010 edition merely as hosts.
Broos named a relatively strong 23-man squad for the two matches last week. However, he’s had to deal with two major blows since the team assembled for camp on Monday in Roodepoort.
Relebohile Mofokeng was the first player to be withdrawn from the squad after sustaining an injury during Orlando Pirates’ 1-0 win over Siwelele FC. He has since been replaced by his Kaizer Chiefs counterpart, Mduduzi Shabalala.
On Tuesday morning, news emerged from the camp that Rayners had also pulled out due to a medical issue and will be replaced by Makgopa.
While Makgopa has had an impressive start to the season for Pirates — scoring one goal and registering three assists in 11 matches across all competitions — Rayners has posted better numbers, making him the ideal backup striker to Lyle Foster.
The 29-year-old has been in red-hot form in domestic football for Mamelodi Sundowns, scoring a remarkable nine goals and providing one assist in just 12 matches across all competitions. As such, he could be dearly missed by Bafana, who are in desperate need of goals against Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
