Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has urged his teammates to go out and leave it all on the pitch in their crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.
Bafana go into their last qualifier against Rwanda with their fate out of their hands, as their ambitions of making it to the global showpiece in the US, Mexico and Canada will probably end up in smoke if they drop points.
Group C permutations favour top-placed Benin, who will qualify for the World Cup if they beat Nigeria away from home on the same night.
“There are so many factors going into this game, but the most important thing for us is to win the match because we can’t control what happens in Nigeria,” said Williams at Mbombela Stadium on Monday.
We have to be focused on our game because Rwanda are not going to make it easy for us. We saw with the Zimbabwe match, they did not have anything to play for but gave their all.
— Ronwen Williams
Bafana Bafana captain
“We have to be focused on our game because Rwanda are not going to make it easy for us. We saw with the Zimbabwe match, they did not have anything to play for but gave their all.
“We expect the same from Rwanda, but we know what we have to do. We will have to try to win the game with as many goals as possible. During the match, we will have the feeling from the fans because they will have their phones, and every time they celebrate, we will know Nigeria has scored.”
Williams added that players knew what was at stake in the match, and they would respond accordingly.
“We know the situation. We would have loved for the situation to be different. The boys know what is at stake; we have had our talks, and they are ready.
“They have the belief, and it is for us to go out there tomorrow and show what we are and what we have been doing over the past few years. There is no reason to doubt the quality that we have as a team and the progress we have made.
“The boys are ready to go again and get the job done because there is so much to play for. We know what needs to be done, and we know the situation with the points on the standings.
“We will go out with the same belief, faith and mentality that we have had over the past few years, and that is what carried us over the years.”
‘Gutted’
Williams said the players were gutted after the draw with Zimbabwe last week, but they are re-energised and ready to go again.
“We were down, but the coach wanted us to clean what happened against Zimbabwe in our system. If you saw training yesterday, it was clear that the boys meant business. The coach emphasised why we don’t have to doubt ourselves but believe in what we have been doing over the past few years.
“We have come on in leaps and bounds; we have done extremely well until now. We still believe in what we do and the team that we have. There is all to play for, and we can make history tomorrow.
“You can sense that from the players; the mindset is good. We would have liked for things to be different, but it is time for the boys to dig deep and leave it on the field on Tuesday night.”
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