Members of the Lonehill Senior Citizen Club were given a rare inside look into the South Africa national soccer team’s FIFA World Cup journey at Dino’s Pizzeria Restaurant in the Lonehill Shopping Centre.

Bafana Bafana goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson explained the world cup qualification process and gave seniors a better understanding of how Bafana Bafana secured its place in the tournament.

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“The world cup will be hosted jointly by Mexico, the USA, and Canada, and, for the first time, the world cup will feature 48 participating nations instead of 32.

The opening game will be in Mexico, which we’re playing, and we’re playing against Mexico.”

South Africa last qualified for the world cup in 2002, and later hosted the tournament in 2010. Johnson believes the team is now in a strong position to win, following consistent performances over the past five years. Johnson also reflected on the national team’s recent progress under coach Hugo Broos.

“We’ve played 56 games, and we’ve only lost eight, so we’ve got a good chance of going through to the next round.”

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He added that support for the team has steadily grown again after years of declining public confidence.

“Previously, Bafana Bafana got a bad name, and people stopped supporting.

Even when we started five years ago, the stadiums were empty, but over the last two or three years, the stadiums have been full again. It just shows the progress we’ve made and how well we’ve done.”

The team is expected to leave for the tournament on May 31.

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