South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane has made two changes to the starting line-up for Wednesday’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Eritrea in Cairo.
Samuleke Kabini and Bathusi Aubaas come into the side after Aubrey Modiba and Fawaaz Basadien were ruled out through injury. Kick-off is at 18:00 at Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.
South Africa’s starting XI is: Williams (c), Okon, Makhanya, Kabini, Sebelebele, Sithole, Aubaas, Mofokeng, Appollis, Maseko and Rayners.
Their substitutes are Chaine, Mbuthuma, Matuludi, Morena, Singh, Seema, Ndamane, Basadien, Mailula, Poggenpoel and Zwane.
Eritrea will begin with Yonathan Sultan (1), Hennos Asmelash (16), Jozef Misghina (33), Namrud Embaye (14), Jonas Idris (3), Ablelom Teklezghi (8), Tesfaldet Tekie (9), Nahom Netabay (20), Esrom Yohannes (12), Filmon Gerezgiher (7) and Ali Suleman (10).
Eritrea’s substitutes are Malik Abdurahman, Yoel Kebreab, Mussie Beraky, Yonathan Sebhatu, Nahom Tadese, Yoel Gerezgiher, Yoel Yilma, Yonael Yonas, Awet Isaac, Awet Alemseged, Fahmi Ibrahim, Maiil Lundgren, Nobel Gebrezghi and Romel Abdu.
Bafana Bafana arrive with momentum after beating Guinea 2-1 at the Orlando Amstel Arena last Saturday. Ime Okon gave South Africa the lead before Seydouba Cisse equalised, but Samukele Kabini came off the bench to score the winner.
The victory was Mosimane’s first competitive win since returning to lead the national team. South Africa will now aim to claim another three points and improve their position in Group D.
Eritrea also showed resilience in their previous match, drawing 1-1 with Kenya in Nairobi. Nahom Girmai Netabay put Eritrea ahead before the hosts secured an equaliser.
That result underlines the need for South Africa to approach the fixture seriously, even though they are considerably higher than Eritrea in the FIFA rankings.
South Africa have risen from 54th to 50th in the provisional FIFA rankings, moving back into the world’s top 50 for the first time since 2011. The last time Bafana Bafana reached that level was in October 2011, when they climbed to 49th in the world during Mosimane’s first spell in charge.
Historical FIFA ranking data lists South Africa’s 49th-place position on 19 October 2011. Mosimane’s return has therefore coincided with the team reaching a ranking position last achieved during his previous tenure.
The win over Guinea has also lifted South Africa to ninth among African nations in the latest live ranking picture.
