The senior national football team, Likuena, faces a tough challenge as they take on South Africa’s Bafana Bafana this evening at 6:00 PM in the second leg of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.
Likuena will then travel to Rwanda later this month for another crucial qualifier in their bid to secure a historic World Cup spot.
Bafana Bafana currently sit second in Group C with seven points, tied with group leaders Rwanda and third-placed Benin. Nigeria is in fifth place, while Zimbabwe sits at the bottom of the group.
The rivalry between Likuena and Bafana Bafana has been evident over the years. Their most recent encounter ended in a goalless draw in a friendly match.
Likuena’s head coach, Makhetha Leslie Notši, acknowledged the enormity of the challenge ahead but stressed that securing points against Bafana Bafana and Rwanda would be a significant achievement.
“Securing points against these teams would be a great achievement,” Notši said.
He admitted that his team is stepping into the lion’s den but said the opportunity to compete against strong sides is a motivating factor.
Speaking to the media, Notši emphasised that Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers remains wide open, presenting every team with a chance to collect points and strengthen their qualification hopes.
“Some nations in the group are considered favorites, but they still need to earn the necessary points to qualify for the World Cup,” he stated.
“For Lesotho, the upcoming qualifiers are particularly crucial, especially since they will play two consecutive away matches, which could be physically demanding,” Notši explained.
He added that Likuena must dig deep to challenge group favourites South Africa and Rwanda, seeing these encounters as an opportunity for his players to improve.
“Lesotho is in a highly competitive group featuring strong footballing nations, but he sees this as a challenge for his players to push themselves further,” he said.
Touching on the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, Notši expressed deep disappointment over Lesotho’s failure to qualify. He noted that facing North African and West African teams is always difficult, mainly due to the challenges of long-distance travel and back-to-back matches.
However, he pointed out that there were positive takeaways from both the CHAN and AFCON qualification campaigns, which the team aims to build on moving forward.
Likuena’s campaign so far has been a mixed bag of results. They played to a 1-all draw against Nigeria, a goalless draw against Benin, a 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe, and a 1-0 loss to Rwanda.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is set to take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Lesotho is fighting to qualify for the tournament for the first time in history.
Seabata Mahao is a general news reporter with special focus on Business and Sports.
Started working at Newsday in 2021.
has an Associate Degree in Journalism and Media.
