Time for Bafana to shine

Time for Bafana to shine

South Africa could secure their participation in the next Africa Cup of Nations finals if they beat Liberia in back-to-back matches on Friday and next week – with qualification made a lot easier after Zimbabwe was kicked out of the competition.

By Mark Gleeson

After missing out on the last Africa Cup of Nations finals and also failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, South Africa are heavily fancied to make sure of a place at the next Cup of Nations this week.

They take on Liberia in back-to-back Group K qualifiers on Friday at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto and then in Monrovia next Tuesday.

With the banning of Zimbabwe, it has become a three, rather than four-team group – meaning it is easier to qualify as the top two finishers in the group go through. Morocco are already in the lead after beating South Africa at home and Liberia away (although the game was played in Morocco in June).

Morocco have a bye this week, leaving Bafana Bafana and the Lone Stars to effectively battle it out for the second berth.

Liberia’s footballing claim to fame is George Weah, the only African Ballon d’Or winner and now, somewhat bizarrely, his country’s president. But collectively Liberia have qualified just twice for a Cup of Nations finals, the last time back in 2002, and have never come close to a World Cup finals place. They are 150th in the latest FIFA rankings, 83 places below South Africa.

The next days will see a frenetic number of qualifiers not only in the Cup of Nations but also the start of the race for a place in the European Championship.

The Cup of Nations qualification reaches its halfway point with a bevy of matches on Thursday and Friday and the fourth round of fixtures is on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. There will be a fifth round in June and last round in September.

The top two finishers in each of the 12 groups qualify for the finals in the Ivory Coast in January next year.

The next European Championship is set for Germany from June 14-July 14 next year and the qualifiers are all crammed into 10 matchdays between now and November.

There are 10 groups with the top two finishers qualifying and then extra places available through play-offs in March next year.

The opening night of qualifying action on Thursday includes a rematch of the EURO 2020 final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium. The Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar last year but have held the upper hand over the Three Lions in recent games, famously defeating Gareth Southgate’s team on penalties in London before registering a goalless draw and a 1-0 victory in the 2022/23 Nations League phase.