Bafana Bafana set to face 50th African opponent as Eritrea milestone looms

South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are set to reach a significant milestone when they face Eritrea in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign next Wednesday in Cairo.

The encounter will mark South Africa’s 50th different African opponent since the country’s readmission to international football in 1992.

Only Djibouti, Somalia and Togo are yet to face Bafana Bafana during that period, putting South Africa in an exclusive group of African nations to have played against at least 50 different opponents.

Cameroon, Ghana and Tunisia are the only other African countries to have reached the 50-opponent mark, while Algeria, DR Congo and Sudan have each faced 49 different African nations.

South Africa’s most frequent opponent has been Zambia, with the two neighbours having met 25 times. Zambia have won nine of those encounters, drawn nine and lost seven.

Bafana also have a losing head-to-head record against Nigeria, having recorded only two victories in 18 meetings, alongside eight draws and eight defeats.

However, South Africa have enjoyed favourable records against several other prominent African nations, including Egypt, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Botswana have been the opponent against whom Bafana have recorded the most victories, with 14 wins from 20 meetings. South Africa have also scored 31 goals against Botswana, their highest tally against any African opponent.

Mauritania remains the only one of South Africa’s previous 49 African opponents that Bafana have never defeated. The two sides met during the 2017 AFCON qualifiers, with Mauritania winning 3-1 in Nouakchott before the teams drew 1-1 in Nelspruit.

The Eritrea fixture will also add to South Africa’s growing international match tally.

FIFA currently credits Bafana with 498 international matches, although the figure includes some early COSAFA and African Nations Championship fixtures that were not regarded by South Africa as full ‘A’ internationals because reserve or non-first-choice sides were used.

South Africa’s own records, which subsequently include CHAN and COSAFA matches despite the use of weakened squads, put the team at 489 matches, comprising 214 wins, 151 draws and 124 defeats.

Bafana’s international journey began against Cameroon in 1992, and the team is now closing in on the 500-match mark.

Before the historic Eritrea meeting, South Africa will first face Guinea at home on Saturday in their opening Group D fixture of the 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign.