After an impressive start to their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 qualifying campaign, Bafana Bafana will now shift their attention to a high-profile international friendly against Egypt in Cairo on Sunday.
Bafana have made a perfect start under the returning Pitso Mosimane, collecting six points from their opening two Group D matches.
South Africa began their campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Guinea at Orlando Amstel Arena on September 26 before producing an emphatic 5-0 demolition of Eritrea at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo four days later.
The victory over Eritrea was particularly impressive, with young attacker Relebohile Mofokeng announcing himself on the international stage by scoring twice in the first half.
Sphephelo Sithole, Iqraam Rayners and substitute Luther Singh completed the five-star performance as Mosimane’s men strengthened their position at the top of Group D.
The result means South Africa have scored seven goals in their first two qualifiers while conceding only one.
Guinea, meanwhile, recovered from their opening defeat to Bafana by beating Kenya 1-0 in Conakry on Thursday, leaving them on three points, three behind the South Africans. Kenya remain on one point, while Eritrea are yet to register a point.
With Kenya already guaranteed a place at the 2027 AFCON finals as one of the co-hosts, South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea are competing for the remaining qualifying position from Group D.
Egypt test awaits
Before returning to the AFCON qualifying programme, however, Mosimane and his charges will remain in Cairo for a mouth-watering encounter with Egypt on Sunday, October 4.
The friendly will be played at the Cairo International Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm South African time.
The match was arranged as part of the extended international window and will give Mosimane another opportunity to assess his squad after two competitive matches.
CAF reported before the qualifiers that Mosimane had deliberately used his first squad to introduce five new players while retaining the core of the team that featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Egypt encounter therefore gives the coach an opportunity to experiment further with his combinations and give valuable international minutes to players who may not have featured extensively in the two qualifiers.
It will also be a reunion of sorts for Mosimane, who has extensive experience of Egyptian football following his successful spell with Al Ahly.
Salah question
There is also interest in whether Egypt captain and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will feature.
Reuters reported that Salah’s availability remained uncertain after he stayed behind when Egypt travelled to South Sudan for their qualifier, although Egypt coach Hossam Hassan indicated that the forward would return for the South Africa friendly.
For Bafana, facing Egypt represents a considerably different challenge from the opening qualifiers and could provide a useful measure of how Mosimane’s team is developing.
The two nations have a long history, including South Africa’s famous 1-0 victory over Egypt at the 2019 AFCON, when Thembinkosi Lorch scored late at the Cairo International Stadium.
Egypt, however, won the most recent meeting between the sides, defeating Bafana 1-0 in the 2025 AFCON group stage.
Kenya next in the qualifiers
Once the Egypt friendly is concluded, Bafana will turn their attention back to the AFCON qualifying campaign.
Their next Group D assignment will be against Kenya on home soil, with the remaining qualifying fixtures scheduled to determine which of the non-host nations joins Kenya at the 2027 tournament.
For Mosimane, the immediate priority will be to use the Egypt encounter to continue building his squad while maintaining the momentum generated by the victories over Guinea and Eritrea.
Seven goals from two qualifiers have provided the new-look Bafana with an encouraging start, but the coach will know that the real test will be maintaining that consistency when the competitive campaign resumes.
For now, though, the focus is firmly on Cairo — and an Egypt side that will provide Bafana with another opportunity to test themselves against one of Africa’s established football nations.
