Members of the Lonehill Senior Citizen Coffee Club received insight into the Bafana Bafana team’s World Cup journey from goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson, who shared the team’s progress and expectations ahead of the tournament.

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 will feature 48 teams for the first time.

“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 of winning following consistent performances over the past five years.

“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.

“That’s our goal, to get out of the group. Once you’re out of the group, anything can happen.”

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Johnson encouraged South Africans to continue supporting the team, saying public faith in Bafana Bafana has grown again in recent years.

“In the previous years, Bafana Bafana grew to have a bad name and lost supporters. It was visible when we started five years ago that the stadiums were empty. But over the last two or three years, the stadiums have been full again.”

He added that community engagements help reconnect supporters with the team and allow people to better understand the progress made by the squad over the past few years.

The Bafana Bafana squad is expected to leave on May 31.

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