Bafana Bafana play Benin in a World Cup qualifier tonight

JOHANNESBURG - Bafana Bafana have a big night ahead of them as they play Benin in an all-important 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in the Ivory Coast. 

Tuesday night's match is being played at a neutral venue as pitches in Benin have been deemed unsuitable for international football.

Coach Hugo Broos's side has already had an obstacle to overcome, on Monday, in the lead-up to the game. Their preparations were interrupted as they couldn’t train at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan. Bafana were entitled to an hour of training time on the pitch on the day before the match, but the ground was used for Ivory Coast's 1-0 win against Gambia on the same day, forcing the team to make other arrangements.

“This is bad when people who make the rules don’t follow the rules. Will that have an influence on the game? I don’t know. I think Benin has already trained in that stadium because they were here before us. But we have the right to train today in the stadium where the match takes place, and we can’t. And this is not honest, and this is not correct,” said a frustrated Broos.

Bafana Bafana have had to quickly forget about the hiccup and focus on the job at hand as they can take a huge leap towards qualifying for next year's tournament with a victory. A win could potentially see them go five points clear at the top of their group with four matches left to play. Captain Ronwen Williams is confident that he and his teammates can get the result that will take them a step closer to a first World Cup appearance for South Africa since 2010.

“It’s going to be a tough one. Benin is a very good team, but we believe in our qualities, we believe in what we’ve been building over the last year. So we’re looking forward to the game. It’s going to be a tough one, a lot of challenges, but I think this team is strong enough to overcome all those challenges,” said Williams

Kick-off is set for 18:00.