The current Bafana Bafana squad is the 30-man group Pitso Mosimane named on 17 September 2026 for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers and the friendly against Egypt. It is made up of 3 goalkeepers, 11 defenders, 5 midfielders and 11 forwards. Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane and Relebohile Mofokeng are all in it. The squad’s last job of the window is Egypt against South Africa at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday 4 October 2026, kick-off 20:00 SAST. Every name below is listed by two sources that agree.
The full 30-man squad
Mosimane announced the group on 17 September 2026. Goal and Africa Soccer both published the list on the same day and the two lists are identical, name for name, with one spelling difference noted under the table.
| Position | Players | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Ronwen Williams, Sipho Chaine, Ricardo Goss | 3 |
| Defenders | Aubrey Modiba, Samukele Kabini, Fawaaz Basadien, Kamogelo Sebelebele, Thapelo Morena, Thabang Matuludi, Olwethu Makhanya, Khulumani Ndamane, Ime Okon, Lebone Seema, Nkosinathi Sibisi | 11 |
| Midfielders | Teboho Mokoena, Lebogang Maboe, Sphephelo Sithole, Bathusi Aubaas, Brooklyn Poggenpoel | 5 |
| Forwards | Iqraam Rayners, Yanela Mbuthuma, Cassius Mailula, Oswin Appollis, Puso Dithejane, Tashreeq Matthews, Relebohile Mofokeng, Themba Zwane, Thapelo Maseko, Luther Singh, Shandre Campbell | 11 |
| Total | 3 plus 11 plus 5 plus 11 | 30 |
One disagreement worth recording rather than hiding: Goal spells the midfielder’s first name Lebogang Maboe, Africa Soccer spells it Lebohang Maboe. We have no third source that settles it, so we are naming both spellings instead of picking one. We have also not published a club beside any name, because neither of the two squad reports we used carried club affiliations and we are not going to fill that column from memory.
On cutting the group down, Mosimane said: ‘We have reduced the 35 to 30 players, not an easy thing to do.’
The shape of the squad, which is the interesting part
This is our own count, taken straight from the squad list above. It is not something either source published, and it is the single most striking thing about the group.
| Unit | Named | Share of the 30 | If the group were cut to 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | 3 | 10.0% | 3 is already a normal tournament number |
| Defenders | 11 | 36.7% | Would normally fall to 7 or 8 |
| Midfielders | 5 | 16.7% | Cannot fall at all without going to 4 |
| Forwards | 11 | 36.7% | Would normally fall to 5 or 6 |
| Total | 30 | 100% | 7 names have to go |
Read it in one line: Mosimane named more than twice as many forwards as midfielders, and exactly as many defenders as forwards. The midfield is the thinnest unit in the squad by a wide margin, at five players for three matches in eight days. Defenders and forwards each take 36.7% of the places, the midfield 16.7%. If this group were ever trimmed to a 23-man tournament list, seven names would have to go and almost none of them could come from the middle of the pitch.
We are not going to dress that up as a tactical verdict. It is a count, and counts are all we publish. What it does tell a reader is that the shape of this squad gives Mosimane very little room to rotate centrally, and plenty of room to change the back line and the front line, which is consistent with a window that ends in a friendly he has described as an assessment exercise.
What this squad has already done
Two competitive matches, both won, both verified. Scores and scorers come from the ESPN AFCON qualifying feed, cross-checked against South African reporting.
| Date | Match | Score | Venue | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 2026 | South Africa v Guinea | 2-1 | Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg | Okon 30, Kabini 77; Cisse 69 for Guinea |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Eritrea v South Africa | 0-5 | Al Salam Stadium, Cairo | Not published: reports disagree on the minutes |
| Two games | Both won | 7 scored, 1 conceded | 3.50 scored and 0.50 conceded a game |
Seven goals for and one against across two qualifiers is 3.50 scored and 0.50 conceded per game. That is a two-match sample and we are calling it a two-match sample, not a trend. On the Eritrea scoreline we have the 0-5 from two sources but the goal times differ between reports, so we have left the minutes off rather than publish a set we cannot stand behind.
The Egypt friendly, and why there is no pick on it
Egypt host South Africa at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday 4 October 2026. The ESPN international friendly feed gives the kick-off as 18:00 UTC, which is 20:00 South African time, and Briefly reports the same 20:00 SAST start with coverage on SABC Sport. Those two agree, so that is what we publish.
Our board carries this match with no pick at all, and that is deliberate. Friendlies are not modelled here. Selection is unpredictable, substitutions are unlimited in spirit if not in letter, and neither side is playing for anything. A percentage on a match like that would be a number we invented, and inventing numbers is the one thing that would make our published record worthless. So nothing from Sunday night enters the record, win, lose or draw.
On the opposition, Briefly alone reports that Hossam Hassan’s Egypt squad includes Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush. We have one source for that, so we are naming the source. Mosimane’s framing of the fixture, quoted by the same outlet: ‘Egypt are also a big gun. It is important to face the big guns.’
Our record on South Africa, and overall
Read off the live site today, not from notes. The overall graded record is 101 wins and 74 losses from 175 graded picks, 58%. In the strong band, the picks we rate at 70% or above, it is 23 wins from 27, 85%. Those are the two figures we could read back off the page this morning, so those are the two we are quoting.
| Match | Our published pick | Result | Graded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eritrea v South Africa, 30 Sep | South Africa to win, 74% | 0-5 to South Africa | WIN |
| Egypt v South Africa, 4 Oct | No pick published | Not played | VOID |
We will not quote a South Africa win rate or an AFCON qualifying column figure on this page. The accuracy table on our homepage is built in the browser from the pick log, so it does not come back when the page is fetched, and we are not willing to state a per-competition percentage we could not read this morning. Every graded pick the site has ever published, including the losses, is on the predictions board.
Read next
- Bafana Bafana fixtures, kick-off times and our predictions
- Egypt v South Africa: the friendly preview, and why we have no pick
- AFCON 2027 qualifying Group D, and who actually goes through
- South Africa 2-1 Guinea: the result and our graded pick
- Arsenal v Leeds prediction: our 66 percent call against the market price
- Betway Premiership club hubs and our graded PSL record
- The verified Betway Premiership log and points per game
- Today’s predictions board, with every confidence figure
Predictions on this site are published for information only and are not betting advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. 18+ only. Betting involves risk and you can lose money, so never stake more than you can afford to lose. Free and confidential help is available from the South African National Responsible Gambling Programme on 0800 006 008, 24 hours a day.