Bafana Bafana sit atop Group C after Friday’s FIFA World Cup qualifier win over Lesotho as they prepare to take on Benin in their next clash on Tuesday.
Kick-off is at 18:00 (SA time).
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Both sides find themselves in uncharted territory as group favourites Nigeria continues to drop points.
Benin have never qualified for a World Cup, while South Africa’s last appearance on football’s biggest stage came 15 years ago when Mzansi hosted the 2010 tournament.
Get three points tonight and Bafana Bafana will have a healthy cushion over the rest of the pack and have one foot in the 2026 spectacle.
The match will take place at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire after Benin’s home grounds were deemed to be unsuitable for international matches.
Bafana Bafana starting XI
- Ronwen Williams
- Nkosinathi Sibisi
- Siyabonga Ngezana
- Khuliso Mudau
- Fawaaz Basadien
- Percy Tau
- Thalente Mbatha
- Relebohile Mofokeng
- Thapelo Morena
- Bathusi Aubaas
- Lyle Foster
Broos displeased
Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was outraged by his team’s inability to train at the stadium in preparation for Tuesday’s game, saying, “First of all, I have to tell you that I’m really not satisfied with the decision that we can’t have a pre-match training in the stadium where the game takes place.
“I think this is a FIFA rule, that every team has the right to have a preliminary training before the game of 60 minutes in the stadium where you play, where the match takes place,” the Bafana coach added.
“I don’t understand. I understand it because there is another game. But this is bad when people who make the rules don’t follow the rules. Will that have an influence on the game? I don’t know. But I know if tomorrow after the game I’m not at the press conference, there will be a sanction. So we have to follow the rules. Where are the rules now? And you will tell me, yes, that’s for both teams. I don’t think so. I think Berlin has already trained in that stadium because they were here before us.
“So it’s all nice to say, follow the rules, follow this. We have to follow everything. But we have the right to train today in the stadium where the match takes place, and we can’t. And this is not honest and this is not correct.”
Will Bafana Bafana pick up the full three points?
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