South Africa and Nigeria to Renew Rivalry in Upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

• South Africa and Nigeria will face off in Group C alongside four other African sides in the upcoming qualifiers
• Bafana Bafana last featured in the FIFA World Cup in 2010 when they hosted the tournament in South Africa
• Nigeria last competed in the World Cup in 2018 and will be looking to book their seventh appearance in 2026

South Africa and Nigeria will continue their rivalry on the football field in a bid to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Bafana and the Super Eagles were drawn together in Group C for the upcoming CAF qualifiers.

With the 2026 World Cup featuring 48 teams for the first time, Africa will be represented by nine sides.

Those nine teams will qualify for the World Cup by topping their groups in the upcoming qualifiers. The African qualifiers feature nine groups of six teams, all vying for the automatic spots.

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South Africa and Nigeria will compete for the top spot alongside Zimbabwe, Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho.

The qualifiers get underway in November 2023.

How Bafana and Nigeria rank

The Super Eagles and Bafana are favourites to fight for the top spot in the group, considering that the other four sides have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup before.

The other sides are also ranked significantly lower than either Nigeria or South Africa.

Nigeria:

Currently ranked sixth on the continent, the Super Eagles are also ranked 39th in the world. They have qualified for the World Cup six times already and last featured in the tournament in 2018.

South Africa:

Bafana are the only African side to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and it was also the last time that they featured in the tournament. Ranked 12th on the continent, they are also 62nd in the world at the moment.

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Benin:

Ranked 20th in Africa, Benin have qualified for AFCON four times but never for the World Cup. Les Guépards just cracked a top 100 ranking according to FIFA, coming in at number 93.

Zimbabwe:

South Africa’s neighbours have been allowed to compete once again by FIFA, after being banned from participating in the AFCON qualifiers. Ranked 33rd on the continent, Zim are 124th in the world according to FIFA.

Rwanda:

The East African side are not that far behind Zimbabwe in the rankings and are the 40th-best side in Africa currently. They are also ranked 139th in the world according to FIFA. Not only have they never qualified for the tournament, but they have also only qualified once for AFCON.

Lesotho:

Ranked 46th on the continent, Lesotho are another neighbour of South Africa in the tournament. The side have never qualified for the World Cup and never qualified for AFCON either. They are currently ranked 152nd in the world.