Eritrea vs South Africa: AFCON 2027 Qualifier, Team News & Match Guide

Eritrea vs South Africa takes Bafana Bafana to Cairo on Wednesday, 30 September 2026 for their second match in AFCON 2027 qualifying Group D. South Africa opened with a 2-1 win over Guinea, while Eritrea earned a 1-1 draw against co-hosts Kenya. afnews.co.za

The match is being played at Al Salam Stadium because Eritrea do not currently have a home stadium approved for this level of international football. For South Africa, another positive result would strengthen an early lead in the race for Group D’s single qualification place available to a non-host nation.

For the Eritrea vs South Africa live score, confirmed lineups, goals, cards and changing match statistics, follow SP Score when the match gets underway.

Match information	Details
Competition	AFCON 2027 Qualifiers
Group	Group D
Matchday	2
Date	Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Kick-off	18:00 SAST / 16:00 UTC
Venue	Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt
Venue status	Neutral venue
Eritrea coach	Hesham Yakan
South Africa coach	Pitso Mosimane

The Eritrean National Football Federation confirmed Al Salam Stadium and a 19:00 East Africa Time kick-off, which is 18:00 in South Africa. The fixture is Eritrea’s nominal home match but is being staged in Cairo.

READ ALSO: South Africa World Cup 2026: Fixtures, Squad & Standings

Eritrea vs South Africa team news starts with a major change from the original preview: Pitso Mosimane, not Hugo Broos, is now in charge of Bafana Bafana. Mosimane began his latest spell with the national team by beating Guinea 2-1 in Johannesburg.

South Africa’s first qualifier gave Mosimane several selection options. Ime Okon scored the opener from defence, while substitute Samukele Kabini scored the winner after Guinea had equalised. Ronwen Williams captained the side in goal, with Teboho Mokoena, Sphephelo Sithole, Relebohile Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis and Iqraam Rayners all starting.

Eritrea coach Hesham Yakan can also work from a settled base after the draw with Kenya. Nahom Girmai Netabay scored from outside the box in the 36th minute, and Eritrea remained in front until Ryan Ogam equalised in the 87th minute.

Eritrea vs South Africa lineups will be confirmed shortly before kick-off. With no major late absence established in the verified pre-match sources, the teams’ Matchday 1 selections provide the strongest guide to how they could start in Cairo.

Eritrea possible XI	South Africa possible XI
Yonathan Sultan	Ronwen Williams
Victor Fors	Kamogelo Sebelebele
Jamal Ali	Ime Okon
Namrud Embaye	Olwethu Makhanya
Jonas Idris	Aubrey Modiba
Tesfaldet Tekie	Sphephelo Sithole
Nahom Girmai Netabay	Teboho Mokoena
Filimon Gerezgiher	Oswin Appollis
Ablelom Teklezgi	Relebohile Mofokeng
Esrom Yohannes	Thapelo Maseko
Ali Sulieman	Iqraam Rayners

Mosimane also has options from the bench after Kabini’s decisive contribution against Guinea, while Yanela Mbuthuma, Thapelo Morena, Bathusi Aubaas, Luther Singh, Cassius Mailula and Themba Zwane were among the available South Africa substitutes.

Eritrea vs South Africa stats show Bafana Bafana entering Matchday 2 with the group’s only win. South Africa scored twice from 22 attempts against Guinea, while Eritrea took a point in Nairobi despite Kenya controlling most of the possession and recording 29 attempts.

Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
South Africa	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3
Eritrea	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Kenya	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Guinea	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0

Against Kenya, Eritrea had 10 shots and put six on target despite having roughly a third of the possession. South Africa had 22 shots against Guinea, with five on target, and scored through Okon and Kabini.

Eritrea vs South Africa H2H has no established senior history before this qualifier. Current match databases list no previous meeting between the two national teams, making the Cairo fixture their first recorded senior international against each other.

That means there is no previous result to use as a direct comparison. The stronger reference points are the teams’ opening Group D performances: Eritrea’s 1-1 draw with Kenya and South Africa’s 2-1 victory over Guinea.

Eritrea vs South Africa results from Matchday 1 left both teams unbeaten in the group. Eritrea came within three minutes of beating Kenya in Nairobi, while South Africa responded to Guinea’s second-half equaliser by finding a winning goal eight minutes later.

Netabay gave Eritrea the lead in the 36th minute after an assist from Ali Sulieman. Kenya pushed for an equaliser and eventually found it through Ryan Ogam in the 87th minute. Eritrea still left Nairobi with their first point of the campaign.

Ime Okon put Bafana Bafana ahead after 30 minutes. Seydouba Cisse levelled for Guinea in the 69th minute, but Kabini scored South Africa’s winner in the 77th minute after coming on as a substitute.

READ ALSO: Bafana Bafana World Cup Squad Announced

Ronwen Williams remains an important figure for Bafana Bafana in goal, while Mokoena and Sithole give Mosimane experience in central midfield. Mofokeng and Appollis can create from the attacking positions, and the contributions of Okon and Kabini against Guinea give South Africa additional threats beyond the front line.

For Eritrea, Netabay enters the match after scoring against Kenya. Ali Sulieman was involved in that goal and also tested Kenya’s goalkeeper during the match. Eritrea will need those attacking moments again if they spend long periods without the ball against South Africa.

Group D has a different qualification calculation from most AFCON groups because Kenya are one of the 2027 tournament co-hosts and already have a place at the finals. CAF has confirmed that only the highest-ranked team outside Kenya will qualify from this group.

South Africa therefore need to finish above both Eritrea and Guinea in the final standings. Their opening win gives them three points, but Eritrea’s draw in Nairobi means the Red Sea Camels are already part of that qualification race.

Eritrea vs South Africa prediction analysis gives South Africa the stronger starting position after their opening victory and the number of established international players available to Mosimane. Eritrea, however, showed against Kenya that they can defend for long periods and still create chances from limited possession.

Bafana Bafana should expect to have more of the ball in Cairo. The challenge will be turning possession into clear chances without giving Eritrea easy counter-attacking opportunities. South Africa’s bench also made a difference against Guinea, which gives Mosimane alternatives if the match remains tight.

For Eritrea, keeping the distances between defence and midfield compact will be important. Their six shots on target against Kenya also show that South Africa cannot assume the nominal hosts will offer no attacking threat.

Eritrea vs South Africa today kicks off at 18:00 SAST at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo. The Eritrean federation lists SuperSport among the CAF broadcast partners carrying qualifier coverage, although channel and platform availability can vary by territory.

Fans should check the current SuperSport schedule and their local listings for the final broadcast channel. Live match services will update the confirmed starting lineups, score, goals, cards, substitutions and match statistics.

READ ALSO: South Africa World Cup 2026: Fixtures, Squad & Standings

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Eritrea vs South Africa is scheduled for Wednesday, 30 September 2026.

Kick-off is at 18:00 SAST. The match starts at 16:00 UTC and 19:00 East Africa Time.

The qualifier is being played at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, as Eritrea’s neutral home fixture.

They are in Group D with Kenya and Guinea.

Pitso Mosimane is the current South Africa head coach. He began this spell with a 2-1 AFCON qualifying win over Guinea.

Bafana Bafana beat Guinea 2-1. Ime Okon scored the opener and substitute Samukele Kabini scored the winner.

Eritrea drew 1-1 with Kenya in Nairobi. Nahom Girmai Netabay scored for Eritrea before Ryan Ogam equalised late for Kenya.

Current senior match databases do not list a previous meeting, so this is treated as the first recorded senior international between the two teams.

Kenya qualify automatically as AFCON 2027 co-hosts. The highest-placed team among South Africa, Eritrea and Guinea takes the group’s remaining qualification place.

Eritrea vs South Africa gives Bafana Bafana an opportunity to build on their winning start to AFCON 2027 qualifying. South Africa lead Group D with three points, while Eritrea enter the match with one point after pushing Kenya close in Nairobi.

The neutral venue in Cairo removes the usual home-ground setting, but Eritrea’s opening performance showed that South Africa still need a disciplined display. With only one qualification place available to the three non-host teams in Group D, every point against Eritrea and Guinea can matter.

For more Bafana Bafana and football coverage, visit the SportPesa South Africa Blog. 18+. Gambling is addictive. Play responsibly.

A new Super Series and Super 7 stage headline a revamped format for the 14-team 2027 World Cup, with 10 of the places already confirmed.

The 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will introduce a new five-stage format for a 14-team tournament, when South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia co-host the event. The tournament has been provisionally scheduled to run from 4 October to 21 November, though the ICC may still shift the opening date.

The full schedule is due to be announced on 1 October in Cape Town, just over a year out from the tournament.

Super Series

The tournament opens with the three lowest-seeded teams among the 14 qualifiers playing a round-robin Super Series. Only the winner advances, joining the other 11 teams in the group stage.

READ: CSA clears the air on drop-in pitches in South Africa

Group stage

The 12 teams are split into two groups of six for a 30-match round-robin stage. The top three finishers in each group progress automatically, along with the next best-placed team across both groups, for seven qualifiers overall.

Super 7

The seven survivors play a 21-match round-robin, from which the top four advance to the knockout stage.

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals are drawn from the Super 7 standings: first plays fourth, and second plays third. The winners advance to the final.

Watch: Hamza hunts down 50 in style

Qualification so far

Ten of the 14 places are already confirmed, with the ranking cutoff for direct qualification falling today, 30 September 2026. South Africa and Zimbabwe qualify automatically as the tournament’s Full Member co-hosts.

Namibia, the third co-host, is an ICC Associate Member and does not receive an automatic place, so must qualify through the same route as any other Associate nation.

The remaining eight direct places go to the highest-ranked teams outside the two hosts: India, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The final four places will be settled through the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, a 10-team event running from 22 February to 23 March 2027.

It will feature the two lowest-ranked Full Member nations outside the two hosts, along with the top four finishers from the 2023-2026 Cricket World Cup League 2 and the top four from the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off. The top four teams from that event take the final places at the World Cup.

AFRICA PICKS: Cricket tips and predictions

Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The post How the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup format will work appeared first on SA Cricket Mag.

Kaizer Chiefs youngster Luke Baartman has credited his coach Fernando Da Cruz for his impressive start to the season.

Having struggled in his first season with the club last season under co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben-Youssef, Baartman has been a regular at Amakhosi this season. The 20-year-old has made eight appearances in all competitions and has scored one goal.

His great start to the season has seen him receive a call-up to the South African Under-23 squad that will face Algeria in back-to-back friendlies in Bloemfontein on Thursday and Sunday.

Speaking to the reporters during a SA Under-23 media day at Clapham High School in Queenswood on Tuesday, Baartman attributed his strong start to the season to Da Cruz and his own hard work at training.

“It’s up to me to listen to him (Da Cruz), then get better and better,” said Baartman.

“I think it’s a great start for me, playing all the games in the league so far. Now, it’s just for me to keep working hard and getting game time because if you don’t play you won’t get a call-up,” he added.

“Playing for a big club like Chiefs, it’s massive. And where I come from in Cape Town, it’s also big playing for a club like Chiefs.”

Baartman reveals favourite position

Da Cruz has utilised Baartman in various positions at Chiefs this season, but the youngster says even though he has played in those roles, his preferred position on the pitch is the number nine role.

“First, I want to say that I come from a great structure [at Cape Town Spurs] and a solid development background that allows me to play anywhere up front. But for me, my main position is a number nine, followed by the false nine,” explained Baartman.

Having missed out on the Amajita squad that won the COSAFA and the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations last year due to an injury, Baartman is delighted to be back in the national team set-up and is looking forward to helping SA Under-23s qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I was with the team when we prepared for the COSAFA and the AFCON, but I got injured. I worked hard and went to the World Cup. And now we’re back again,” concluded Baartman.

Sharks loose forward Phepsi Buthelezi is backing his team to follow up their positive start to the United Rugby Championship (URC) season with another good performance against defending champions Leinster at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

After a dismal previous campaign, where they finished 10th on the log after losing more games than they won, and thus missed out on the competition play-offs, the Sharks are looking to put in a much-improved effort this season.

Their struggles usually come when they are without their large contingent of Springbok players, and that always happens at the start of the season, but despite missing their Boks they managed to record a solid 41-24 bonus point win over Ospreys last week to get them up and running.

They now have a golden opportunity to continue that momentum as they welcome a weakened Leinster team to Durban, shorn of most of their Irish internationals, and Buthelezi is fired up for the challenge, especially with him set to face some strong senior players among the visiting loose forwards.

“This week is a very important one for us as a group. It’s more important because it shows us how far we’ve come as a group,” Buthelezi said.

“Leinster’s loose forwards are known for their relentless work rate, but as a player, you always want to test yourself against the best. We’ve worked incredibly hard this pre-season and we’re feeling confident. We want to match fire with fire.

“We really feel we’ve been well prepared. We’ve got good coaches around us who have given us all the information we need to go out there and perform.”

Looking to improve against Leinster

Buthelezi said the Sharks were pleased with their win over Ospreys, but he noted that they were well aware they still had things to work on as they aimed to build on their good start to the season.

“To get off the mark in the way that we did was really rewarding for the group. We had a good look at our performance, and we felt we could have done better in certain moments of the game. But overall, it was a really positive start and everyone is happy,” he said.

Against Ospreys the Sharks loose forward department was in top form, with flank Manu Tshituka and eighthman Nick Hatton dotting down two of their five tries, and Buthelezi acknowledged it was always rewarding for the forwards to score, especially with the team working hard on their attack.

“As a loose forward, it’s always nice to get involved with the ball and score some amazing tries. I thought that was positive, and something we’re going to keep working on.”

Le football bulgare est endeuillé. Iliyan Filipov, propriétaire et actionnaire majoritaire du Botev Plovdiv, club de première division, a été abattu dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi à Plovdiv.

Selon la chaîne BNR et plusieurs médias locaux, les faits se seraient produits vers 1 heure du matin, dans une propriété de l’homme d’affaires.

Également à la tête du groupe de transport et de logistique PIMK, Filipov était une figure du monde économique local.

Une enquête ouverte, le mobile reste inconnu

Les autorités ont déployé un important dispositif policier après les tirs, avec plusieurs accès à la ville bouclés. Les investigations doivent permettre de reconstituer les circonstances du meurtre et d’identifier le ou les responsables.

« Nous suivons activement toutes les pistes possibles », a déclaré Vanya Hristeva, procureure du district de Plovdiv. Aucun mobile n’a été communiqué à ce stade.

The post Bulgarie : le propriétaire du Botev Plovdiv tué par balles appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.