Bafana’s Williams – ‘It was a very painful lesson’

Ronwen Williams has acknowledged that Bafana Bafana’s players need to improve their attitude if they are to succeed at the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico later this year.

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Bafana will play their first football since the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals when they play Panama in an international friendly at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday evening (kick off 7pm).

Bafana low point

Those finals were a low point since Hugo Broos took over as head coach. The side never really played to the high standards they set in finishing third at the 2023 AFCON finals and in qualifying for the World Cup. In the end, Bafana crashed out to Cameroon in the last 16.

Broos has already called on his team to show that their ‘Bafana DNA’ is back on track in Friday’s game and in the other friendly against the same opponent on Tuesday at Cape Town Stadium.

“That is the talk we have had,” Williams told the pre-match press conference in Durban on Thursday.

“To bring the team back and go back to the values that have made us so successful in the last few years. We did let that go.

“As players we have addressed it and the coach has addressed it and now is the time to show we have learned our lesson. It was a very painful lesson. Expectations were so high and you could see the disappointment in the the players. It took a long time for the players to feel normal again.”

Central American side Panama have also qualified for the World Cup, and will play Ghana, Croatia and England in Group E. Thomas Christiansen’s side have been chosen by Bafana with Mexico and the opening match of the World Cup finals in Mexico City on June 11 very much in mind.

Williams – ‘A good test’

“Panama are a team with a lot of quality,” added Williams.

“They are 34th in the world, we have not been above 50th in a very long time (Bafana are currently ranked 60th).

“We have analysed them and watches some clips. They are a team we need to take seriously. They don’t need a lot of chances to punish you. In their last (World Cup) qualifier (actually their penultimate qualifier against Guatemala), they won 3-2 to qualify. They only had three chances and took them. That shows how deadly they can be.

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“They are a compact team, they don’t give much away and it should be a good test for us. We can give ourselves, the coach and even the public and idea of where we are and what we need to do to be ready for … Mexico.”