South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan has urged Bafana Bafana to make the country proud and qualify for Russia 2018.
According to the official SAFA website, Jordaan said there was no reason as to why South Africa cannot compete in a major global tournaments on constant basis.
Bafana Bafana departs for Burkina Faso on Tuesday, October 4 via Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
"We have what it takes to compete and beat the best sides in the world," said Jordaan.
"We have demonstrated it against some of the best sides like Spain, Brazil, Egypt just to mention a few.
"On your day, you can be one of the best sides in the world but you need to perform like that on constant basis.
The SAFA boss said it was critical for Bafana Bafana to start the campaign with a bang to avoid playing catch up in the later stages.
"There is no second chance in these qualifiers, you have to go for broke from the word go. I know you can do it," Jordaan continued.
"Go to Burkina Faso and make a statement that you want to be among those countries going to Russia."
Jordaan said the truth though is that this won’t be an easy trip considering the West Africans’ pedigree in continental and global competitions and the fact that they will be spurred on by their fanatical home crowd.
"They will push you hard but I know on your today you can be unstoppable. Set the ball rolling for the journey to Russia by competing and competing hard," added Jordaan.
The match is scheduled to start at 20:00 (SA time).