South Africa’s senior football team, Bafana Bafana, is one step closer to the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

Hugo Broos’s men thumped Lesotho 3-0 on Friday in Bloemfontein to maintain the top spot with 16 points from seven matches—five points ahead of second-placed Benin, who have 11 points from the same number of matches.

Mohau Nkota, Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis were on the scoresheet for Bafana Bafana.

Broos, however, has cautioned that the job is not yet done.

“It’s a nice number; on the other side, the only thing that’s important is winning the games we are supposed to win,” said Broos after the win.

“It was a very nervous game; you know what happened before. We did what we had to do and made beautiful goals.”

Bafana Bafana will host Nigeria at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday, and a win against the Super Eagles could be enough to seal qualification.

“We have to go on now; that’s the most important thing. We still haven’t qualified even if we are in a very good position, but there are still three games.

“We are in a very good position. We have it in our hands, and we will try not to give it away, and in one month we will have a big party.”

Over the years, Bafana Bafana have participated in three World Cups: 1998, 2002, and 2010 (as hosts).