Nigeria vs South Africa

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Africa's bitter rivals, South Africa and Nigeria, will square off on Friday night at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo during the third week of the CAF World Cup qualifying.

With two points from as many games as their last game, the hosts are in fourth position in Group C going into this encounter. Rwanda leads the group with three points, one point behind the hosts.

These two fierce rivals from the continent squared off in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final precisely four months ago. Although there was nothing separating the sides after 120 minutes, Nigeria prevailed in the penalty shootout.

The Super Eagles ultimately lost to the host country, Ivory Coast, in the championship match. This was only the second time they had lost in a meaningful match since they had lost 1-0 on the road against Guinea-Bissau in March 2023.

Nigeria is now aiming for their sixth World Cup qualifying spot, led by Finidi George, who took over for Portuguese strategist Jose Peseiro earlier this year. All four of the previous global tournaments have included them, with the exception of the most recent one in Qatar.

George's team fell 2-0 to Mali in their international friendlies in March of this year, while they defeated Ghana 2-1 and drew with Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the competition on either side of the AFCON.

Nigeria has a history of dominating this matchup, having won four and drawn five of their previous ten games against this opponent. Despite the absence of a few important players, they will need to perform at their highest level to overcome Bafana Bafana's formidable defense.

In the meantime, South Africa has become one of the continent's most improved teams in recent years. According to FIFA rankings, they broke into the top-10 teams in the CAF after finishing third in the Africa Cup of Nations.

It is the only defeat South Africa has suffered in their past eight games across all competitions, having drawn their previous two games against Algeria and Andorra during the March international break.

In their first group match, Bafana Bafana defeated Benin 2-1; however, in their second match, they were defeated 2-0 away by Rwanda, the tournament's biggest surprise. Bafana Bafana's qualification for the 2026 World Cup has been uneventful.

The Bafana Key Bafana's defense has improved recently; in seven AFCON games earlier this year, they allowed only three goals while maintaining five clean sheets.

But Hugo Broos's team is still very much in the hunt for the top slot, and they want to make it to the World Cup main draw for the fourth time in their history and for the first time since they hosted the massive event in 2010.