South Africa will welcome Lesotho in their fifth match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on Friday, 21 March in an effort to book a spot in the upcoming World Cup tournament before they travel to Ivory Coast to face Benin.
Lesotho are eyeing their first-ever World Cup participation and overcoming Bafana Bafana would mean taking a giant step towards fulfilling their mission.
South Africa vs Lesotho | 21 March | 19:00 | New Peter Mokaba Stadium
South Africa 2/9
Draw 37/10
Lesotho 13/1
South Africa
Having recently booked a spot in the next instalment of the Africa Cup of Nations competition, Hugo Broos has set his sights on qualifying for the biggest football tournament which South Africa was last part of when it hosted in 2010.
Bafana are currently second in the Group C standings with seven points having secured two victories, one draw and one defeat.
Their campaign began with a hard-fought 2-1 win against Benin, but they failed to build from that and suffered a 2-0 loss to Rwanda which was followed by a 1-1 draw against Nigeria before returning to winning ways with a resounding 3-1 victory against Zimbabwe.
Veteran midfielder Themba Zwane will miss out on this clash as he is still recovering from an injury that he picked up on national duty and was replaced by Orlando Pirates’ Patrick Maswanganyi. The latter has also been withdrawn from the squad having suffered an injury prior to Pirates’ 2-1 win against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
He has been replaced by Polokwane City’s Rodney Maphangule who is poised to make his national team debut.
Lesotho
The Crocodiles are currently two points away from a qualifying spot with five points having won once, played two draws and suffered one defeat in their four opening matches.
Their last qualifying match was a 1-0 loss against Rwanda and that was in June Last year and it was followed by a series of mixed results. They will be aiming to build from their 1-0 win against Angola in a friendly match.
Lesotho looks to be punching above its weight, they managed to hold African football heavyweights Nigeria to a 1-1 draw and followed it with a resounding 2-0 victory against Zimbabwe.
They have been consistently putting out great performances having reached the final of the COSAFA 2023 tournament where they were edged by Zambia 1-0. Coach Leslie Notsi was named Coach of the Tournament following his side’s impressive showing.
Notsi remains optimistic about his side’s qualifying chances. “We’re in a group with giants like Nigeria and South Africa, but we’ve shown we can hold our own. We’ve secured results against teams with far greater resources, including a 1-1 draw in Nigeria and a solid win over Zimbabwe,” Notsi told FIFA.com as quoted by Cafonline.com.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast on SABC 1, SABC Plus and SuperSport Channel 202 from 17:50.
Live commentary will be available on various SABC radio stations.
Head-to-head
10.01.24 – Friendly – South Africa 0-0 Lesotho
13.07.21 – Cosafa – South Africa 4-0 Lesotho
04.08.19 – Chan – South Africa 0-3 Lesotho
28.07.19 – Chan – Lesotho 3-2 South Africa
18.06.16 – Cosafa – South Africa 1-0 Lesotho, SA won 2-1 on penalties
Players to watch
Bafana have welcomed the return of Lyle Foster, who plays for English club Burnley and is expected to be the key figure in their attack.
Another notable inclusion is Percy Tau, who is back in the squad and eager to make an impact on his return.
Meanwhile, Lesotho will look to players like goalkeeper Sekhoane Moerane, who represents Orbit College in South Africa, and Royal AM forward Sera Motebang to help them challenge Bafana.
Prediction: South Africa to win & over 2.5 at 1/1
These two nations are familiar with one another, Bafana is without a doubt odd on favourites but should not make the mistake of underestimating the visitors who have shown signs of improvement and that they can hang with the big boys.