Benin are set to host South Africa in a 2026 Fifa World Cup Group C qualifier that will be staged at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Tuesday night.
Bafana Bafana top the pool with 10 points from five outings, two more than the Cheetahs who have had a decent campaign, so far. A win for the hosts will see them go top of the group at the expense of the Hugo Broos-led men, while a win for the latter will give them a good advantage with four match-days remaining.
Ahead of the Tuesday game, Bafana Bafana beat Lesotho 2-0 thanks to strikes from Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams, while Benin threw a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Zimbabwe which took them second.
Rohr unhappy playing home matches away
Benin have no Fifa approved Stadium to host international matches which explains the reason why they are playing their home games away. German tactician Gernot Rohr has not welcomed the idea since he feels it denies his team a massive advantage because their fans can cheer them as it should be.
He argues they will have a disadvantage on Tuesday against Bafana Bafana, “We spent a lot of time, of course, to scout and to analyse not only our own players, but also the opposition, like everybody has to do today video and other analysis,” he said as quoted by iDiski Times.
“But even if you do that, the fact that we have to play in Abidjan and not in Cotonou is a disadvantage for us. You don’t have the supporters in a home game, especially against South Africa, and the stadium would be full. South Africa is the bronze medal winner of the last [Africa Cup of Nations].”
The match starts at 18.00 SAT.
