Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos believes he has a stronger team than the one that played during the Fifa World Cup qualifiers as they prepare for friendlies against France and Guinea.

The South African national team are set to face France and Guinea in two international friendly matches to be played in Europe later this month.

South Africa has already begun their preparations for the start of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June, and their matches against Guinea in Belgium on 25 March and France in Lille four days later are part of the grand plan.

Broos on Tuesday announced his 24-man preliminary squad for the two friendlies and his final list will be unveiled in the coming days ahead of the team’s departure to Europe on 21 March.

“The challenges, I think, [that came] after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we evaluated the team and saw that there were some weaknesses, certainly in the game against Ghana. The team was not ready to play such a game.

“We saw that Ghana started the game very aggressively and we didn’t have an answer to that, so that was one of the things we saw, and therefore we started to look for other players and see where we could improve the team.

“So, those two games [against France and Guinea] are not really about the results but more about preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June. So there will be new players, we will see if they are playing well in their clubs and then see if they perform for Bafana, which is a level higher.

“Let us hope that they improve the team. So, we are using these games to be ready for June and know that we have a stronger team than the team that played in the [World Cup] qualifiers.”

He added: “These are friendly games, but they are more about preparation. These games are an opportunity for us to try some things. You cannot try things when you are playing qualifiers, you have to be sure when you put your team on the pitch. You have to be sure that those are the right players in the right positions. Now we can try [new things now] and we can see what that those players are giving to the team. I’m thinking about Mosele [Goodman], I’m thinking about Shandu [Bandile], I’m thinking about Lakay [Fagrie].

“Those players can be an improvement for us. The result for me is not so important, not at all. But I want to see the things we try in those games can be improvement for the team or not.”