'I don't know Brandon as a human being,' said Bafana head coach Hugo Broos.
Despite a stellar season with Kaizer Chiefs, Brandon Petersen will not be going to the World Cup with Bafana Bafana. Picture: Backpagepix
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he made the decision not to take in-form Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Petersen to the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals.
Petersen shines for Chiefs
Petersen has excelled for Chiefs in the 2025/26 Betway Premiership campaign, and Broos confirmed ahead of the Panama friendlies at the end of March that he would have called up the Amakhosi shot-stopper, had he not been injured.
The 31-year-old was named in Bafana’s preliminary World Cup squad, but in the end Broos chose Orlando Pirates’ Sipho Chaine and Siwelele’s Ricardo Goss as back-ups to Bafana number one and captain Ronwen Williams.
“When we make selection there has to be a certain balance. Do we have height in our selection? Do we have players in good shape? And do we have players who are not with us for the first time?
“That is the reason Petersen is not with us. He was with us for only two days. I said to him yesterday, after we came back from the (final squad) announcement, that I had to choose two out of Goss, Chaine and him.
Broos – ‘I can’t know how he will react to not playing’
“If you look at their quality, you can’t choose. So on what level do you choose? Integration.
“We only had one good training session on Tuesday and that was it. I don’t know Brandon as a human being, so in two days, I can’t know how he will react to not playing.
“That made me choose not to take Brandon.”
Of Chiefs’ four players in the Bafana preliminary squad, only left back Bradley Cross made it into the final 26-man squad. Right back Thabiso Monyane and midfielder Lebohang Maboe were also left out by the Bafana head coach.
The other players not included were injured right wing-back Thapelo Morena, Orlando Pirates playmaker Patrick Maswanganyi and Durban City midfielder Brooklyn Poggenpoel.
