Bafana Stumble But On Course For AFCON Qualification - iDiski Times

South Africa missed the chance to secure their place at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with two games to spare after their 1-1 draw against Congo Brazzaville at the Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat on Tuesday evening.

Bafana Bafana arrived in  Brazzaville filled with confidence after trouncing their opposition 5-0 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday.

But they arrived without key striker Lyle Foster and he was the only change to the starting line-up as Iqraam Rayners replaced the Burnley talent.

While they started well on the artificial surface, creating plenty of early chances, Elias Mokwana was guilty of missing the chance to open the lead in the opening 20 minutes, but soon made up for it when he found the net ten minutes later.

South Africa then had a major setback with Themba Zwane going down injured which ended their fluidity in the encounter as Patrick Maswanganyi struggled to get into the game playing in the 10 role.

Congo pushed for an equaliser before the break and Mons Bassouamina had a cracking effort ruled out for offside, but he was not to be denied going into the break, beating the off-side line and slotting the ball past Ronwen Williams with the last kick of the half.

The home side were then in the ascendency in the second half and barely offered Bafana a sniff, who were aiming to wrap up their qualification early, after Uganda beat South Sudan to move up to 10 points from four games.

But it was not to be, as South Africa dropped two points, moved to eight, two behind the Cranes, who are now through to Morocco 2025.

South Africa need two points from their final two games; Uganda (away), South Sudan (home) to secure their place in back-to-back AFCON tournaments.