Bafana Bafana continue their quest for the 2026 Fifa World Cup ticket on Tuesday with another tricky assignment against Benin.
Both teams have a chance of qualifying for the global competition that will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
South Africa are top of Group C with 10 points from five games, two less than their opponents who are not favoured by the stats.
Recent Form and Head-to-Head Record
Under Hugo Broos, South Africa have been rising steadily; after qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, the Belgian's sights are on the World Cup.
Bafana have played five games in Group C where they have three wins, a draw, and a loss. They beat Lesotho 2-0 in their last outing.
The Cheetah's have started their campaign quite well, collecting eight points after two wins, as many draws and a loss from the five outings in the pool. Against Zimbabwe, they threw a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with their hosts.
In the head-to-head record, Bafana played Benin in the 2004 Afcon where they claimed maximum points after a 2-0 victory. The last meeting was in the World Cup qualifier where South Africa won 2-1, at home.
What They Said
“The most important game now is South Africa because we have eight points. If we beat them, we will be in front of them,” Benin coach Gernot Rorh stated.
“The game is in Abidjan not in Benin like you know. Unfortunately, just like Zimbabwe, we must play away. But Zimbabwe is very close to South Africa and they have a lot of people here and we don’t have that atmosphere in Abidjan.
“It’s not like here, Zimbabwe [fans] were pushing their team. But I’m happy because I saw a good football match and we took one point. But my team is able to manage that situation, I hope that on Tuesday it will be the same,” he concluded.
“You know, I said a few days ago that there’s a team or a country in the group who can help us a lot and it is Nigeria,” Bafana coach Hugo Broos said ahead of the match.
“You saw they beat Rwanda and they can’t afford to lose points. So, against every team, they will do everything to win. And for the moment, we are four points ahead of Nigeria. So, it’s up to us to do what we have to do.
“When we do what we have to do, Nigeria will help us, you will see. The situation is good at the moment, it’s up to us to keep that situation and certainly next Tuesday [against Benin] not do stupid things Ivory Coast,” the Belgian concluded.
Team News and Starting XI
Benin coach Rohr is expected to retain most, if not all, of his players who started against the Warriors.
Broos is expected to make a few changes to his starting, hoping to get another maximum points away.
Benin Probable XI: Dandjinou, Kiki, Roche, Tijani. Moumini, D'Almeida, Hassane, Olaitan, Dokou, Mounie, Hountondji
South Africa Probable XI: Williams, Mudau, Basadien, Sibisi, Ngezana, Aubaas, Adams, Mofokeng, Tau, Mokwana, Foster.
Where To Watch
The game will be played in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from 18.00 SAT and broadcast live by SuperSport and SABC.
