Bafana Bafana delivered a devastating performance as coach Pitso Mosimane’s charges thumped Eritrea 5-0 in an away 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday night.
After weathering an early storm from Eritrea during the opening minutes of the match, the South African senior men’s national team quickly settled down and began to tighten the screws on the East Africans. Relebohile Mofokeng opened the scoring in the 19th minute and then delivered a second goal late in the first half in added time to lay the foundation for the avalanche that was to come in the second period.
Yaya Sithole increased Bafana Bafana’s advantage when he scored the third soon after the restart in the 52nd minute of the match. Iqraam Rayners scored the fourth in the 62nd minute before second half substitute Luther Singh completed the rout in referee’s optional time. While the South Africans were devastating in front of goal, goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was also in an uncompromising mood in the back and made several breathtaking saves to deny an Eritrea side that became visibly frustrated as the captain continued to effortlessly pull off his gravity-defying acrobatics.
It was an overall solid team effort that had Mosimane, the technical team and the handful of South Africans in the stands applauding in appreciation when the referee blew his final whistle.
“It was a good performance from our boys and they showed respect also. They showed respect to the opponents but also played proper football. We are very happy,” Mosimane said.
SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan congratulated the team and said they have had a brilliant start to the qualifying campaign for the 2027 AFCON.
“Congratulations to HOD Molwantwa, coach Pitso, the players and technical team. You have picked up six points in your first two qualifiers, congratulations,” the SAFA President said.
Eritrea coach Hesham Yaka said most of his players are still inexperienced and they were overwhelmed by a superior opponent that just returned from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We faced a team that is classified as a top 5 team in Africa, it was difficult,” the Eritrea coach said.
Bafana Bafana will now turn their attention to the international friendly match against Egypt to be played at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday, 4 October 2026.
The team’s injury woes continued after Bathusi Aubaas was forced to leave the pitch very early in the game in the 16th minute. Brooklyn Poggenpoel was introduced into the fray in his place and rose to the challenge, earning Mosimane’s praises. Aubaas joins Teboho Mokoena and Aubrey Modiba who were ruled out due to injury on the eve of this encounter.
