Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he is targeting to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and is wary of the tough opponents in the qualifiers.

South Africa are in Group G along with neighbours Zimbabwe, Ghana and Ethiopia.

Speaking on Thursday during the squad announcement for the opening games against the Warriors and the Black Stars on 3 and 6 September, respectively, Broos said:

“We have to prepare a young and victorious team and qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

“But we have a tough group with three teams who qualified for the Nations Cup next year, so it can be that we don’t qualify [for Qatar]. But we will try to do everything that we can to qualify.

“And if we don’t qualify, I think these games will be a fantastic experience for the players and prepare us well to qualify for the Nations Cup in 2023.”

Broos, however, is not mandated to qualify for the tournament as SAFA wants him to build a team that will compete for the tickets for the 2023 Afcon and the 2026 World Cup.