A preview of Bafana Bafana’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers

Currently second in Group C (behind Rwanda), Bafana will host Lesotho on Friday evening, before travelling to face Benin on Tuesday.

This double-header set of games will mean that we are past the halfway stage of the qualifying round for USA 2026. There is still a considerable amount of football to be played, but two wins will put Bafana in the driving seat in Group C. What will be most important is to win the home game on Friday, and relieve pressure ahead of a tricky away tie. We preview the two crucial qualifiers.

Friday: Bafana Bafana v Lesotho

Bafana Bafana and Lesotho have played 13 times before, with Bafana winning seven of these, drawing three, and losing three. Most of these games were either away from home or on neutral ground (particularly the COSAFA Cup). At home, they have played three games against the neighbors, losing once and winning the other two games, with the last win coming in July 2021. Under Hugo Broos, Bafana remains unbeaten at home since he took charge in 2021.

Group C is proving to be the most tightly contested group with three teams currently on seven points. Benin plays on Friday night, so they could have taken the overall Group lead by the time this game kicks off. Rwanda leads the overall group by a better goal difference, but Bafana are the highest scorers (6), despite conceding many goals (5). With a 20,000+ crowd behind them, one can see Bafana flying out of the blocks again here, and scoring early. After all, Bafana has scored at least once in each of their last 10 games under Hugo Broos.

100 – Bafana have won all their games against Lesotho when scoring the first goal (7/7).

Team to win: Bafana Bafana
Value bet: Bafana scoring Over 2.5 goals

Tuesday: Benin v Bafana Bafana

On Tuesday, Bafana will play Berlin “away from home” in Ivory Coast. This will only the the third meeting between the two countries. Bafana beat Benin 2-0 at AFCON 2004 in the opening game of the group stages, before both teams bowed out in the first round. They would wait nearly 20 years to face Benin again, on Matchday 1 of this current qualifying campaign. Percy Tau (2nd minute) and Khuliso Mudau (45th minute) were the scorers then.

Benin may be ranked 94th in the world (37 places below Bafana), but the gap is not as wide when you consider only CAF positioning (10 places between the nations). It would be a mistake to underestimate the Benoinese. They have already beaten a star-studded Nigerian side featuring the likes of Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, and Wilfred Ndidiin in these qualifiers, and they will be eyeing to stay in the top spots for themselves.

0 – Benin are unbeaten in each of their last eight home games (A-team), last losing a home game in June 2022 (W4 D4).

Team to win: Benin or draw
Value bet: Under 2.5 goals