Pienaar's Call for Bafana Bafana to Run in World Cup Clash
Steven Pienaar has seen this story before. A South African side clinging to hope, a final group game looming, and a nation wondering if this will finally be the World Cup where Bafana Bafana step out of the shadows.
This time, he wants them to run.
Pienaar’s blunt message
Watching from afar as South Africa drew 1-1 with Czechia in Atlanta, the former Bafana, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur playmaker took to X and cut straight to the point.
"Why is there no running of the ball from Bafana? They all want the ball to feet, no deep runs."
It was a sharp, tactical critique from a player who built his career on movement, angles and timing. South Africa had just earned their first point of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, yet Pienaar’s frustration lay in what he didn’t see: runners breaking lines, forwards stretching defenders, midfielders gambling beyond the ball.
The equaliser came late, Teboho Mokoena burying an 83rd-minute penalty to salvage a draw and spark a late surge that briefly hinted at a dramatic turnaround. South Africa finished on the front foot, pushed for a winner, and left the pitch with momentum.
Pienaar didn’t change his tune.
"Well done boys. Now, on to the next. Please, next, we game we need breaking runs - please boys," he posted after the final whistle.
The praise was there. So was the demand. For him, the performance lacked one crucial ingredient: penetration.
A familiar World Cup crossroads
The table tells a harsh truth. Bafana sit bottom of Group A with one point from two matches. They face South Korea in Guadalupe next Wednesday in what amounts to a knockout tie in all but name, with kick-off at 3 a.m. on Thursday back home in South Africa.
Mexico lead the group with six points. South Korea have three. Czechia and South Africa are locked on one point each, with goal difference keeping the Europeans ahead.
It’s a scenario that stirs old memories. Pienaar was a central figure in South Africa’s 2010 World Cup squad, a team that also went into their final group game with a single point from two matches. That side famously beat France 2-1 in Bloemfontein, a result that shook a football superpower but still wasn’t enough to reach the knockout rounds.
This time, the landscape is different. With the tournament expanded and a round of 32 in play, third place might be enough to squeeze through. The margins are thin, but they are there.
For once, Bafana do not walk into their final group game playing only for pride. There is a door slightly ajar. The question is whether they have the conviction – and the movement – to run through it.
A team without Premier League shine, but with local steel
On paper, this South Africa squad lacks the obvious star power that once came with a Pienaar, or more recently with Lyle Foster. After Foster’s relegation from the Premier League with Burnley, there is no current English top-flight player in the group.
The glamour has shifted. The backbone now lies in a booming domestic scene.
Mamelodi Sundowns have set the tone, reclaiming continental dominance with a second CAF Champions League title in the 2025-26 season. Mokoena, the man who kept Bafana alive in Atlanta, also delivered on Africa’s biggest club stage, scoring the decisive goal against AS FAR in the second leg of the final in Rabat.
That same calm from the spot, that same sense of occasion, carried into the World Cup when he stepped up against Czechia. Different continent, same pressure, same result: the net rippled, and South Africa stayed standing.
This is a group hardened by high-stakes club football, even if the spotlight shines less brightly than Europe’s top leagues. Pienaar’s challenge to them is not about talent. It’s about intent.
Runs, risk and a date with South Korea
The tactical message from the former Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Everton, Spurs and Sunderland man is simple: stop playing in front of teams, start playing behind them.
Against South Korea, a side that thrives in transition and rarely shies away from a high tempo, Bafana cannot afford to be predictable. Too many touches to feet, too many passes in front of a set defence, and the game drifts away. Deep runs change that picture. They drag centre-backs out, open lanes for midfielders, and turn sterile possession into genuine threat.
South Africa have never reached the knockout rounds in any of their previous three World Cup appearances. This is their fourth attempt. Every campaign has carried its own blend of optimism and regret, of moments remembered and opportunities missed.
Now they arrive at another hinge point of a tournament, one match to bend history in a different direction.
Pienaar has delivered his verdict from the sidelines. The message is clear enough.
Will Bafana Bafana finally run beyond the line – and into the last 32?
