BAFANA BAFANA AND BENIN SET FOR TOP-OF-THE-TABLE CLASH

Written by: Nompumelelo Mncube

South Africa and Benin will have a top-of-the-table group C clash in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers when they meet at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on the evening of Tuesday 25 March. Kick-off is at 6pm CAT.

Bafana Bafana claimed top spot in group C on Friday evening when they defeated Lesotho 2-0 in Polokwane. Bafana Bafana had to endure a frustrating first hour of the match before goals from Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams took them to victory.

Benin had claimed top spot the day before after a 2-2 draw away to Zimbabwe in neutral Durban, with Steve Mounie and Dodo Dokou scoring to put the Cheetahs in charge before the Warriors struck back via Knowledge Musona and Marshall Munetsi.

South Africa is at the top with 10 points, with Benin (8), Rwanda (7), Nigeria (6) and even Lesotho (5) still just about in contention for qualification, while Zimbabwe (3) appear destined for the wooden spoon.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos on his team’s win over Lesotho and their strong position in group C:

“I’m very happy with the performance of my team […] and the pre-meeting that maybe [against Lesotho] we have to fight more than to play football but we did good. We are first in the group now, two points ahead, I think this is a good situation.”