Ekong Says South Africa Earned World Cup Spot

Former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong has said South Africa deserves to be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He insists Bafana Bafana earned their place based on their performance, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

His comments come despite many people criticizing South Africa's performances so far. There is also lingering anger among some Nigerians about how the Super Eagles missed out on qualification.

South Africa finished top of their qualifying group, which included Nigeria. This secured their spot at the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. But their performances so far have raised more questions than answers. They lost 2-0 to hosts Mexico in their first game. Then, they drew 1-1 with Czechia in Atlanta.

"I think I probably agree in a sense that the opening game wasn’t where everyone expected them to be," Troost-Ekong said during a round-table with journalists in South Africa. He is there working as a pundit for SuperSport. "Normally they have a very clear playing style, and it was good to see that in the second game against Czechia."

Despite his concerns, he was clear on whether Bafana deserved to be at the tournament. "Bafana were consistent in the qualifiers, and we were playing catch-up from the first game. We dropped a lot of points, so at the end they qualified and we didn’t. So, they deserve to be at the World Cup," he said.

Troost-Ekong did not say they would reach the knockout rounds. Bafana needs to win against South Korea in their last Group A match at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico on Thursday to move forward. They will play without suspended players Themba Zwane and Teboho Mokoena.

"It’s going to be challenging for Bafana, especially because they will be missing some players due to suspension. It’s going to be a huge pressure game. They were a lot better against Czechia, but it won’t be easy for them to beat Korea," he said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is one of the notable teams missing from the expanded 48-team World Cup. They failed to qualify from a group that included South Africa, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and the Republic of Benin. This is their second straight World Cup absence.