Tricky start and finish for Bafana Bafana in 2018 World Cup qualifiers
Bafana Bafana coach, Shakes Mashaba, arrives with the COSAFA trophy during the South African Senior Men's National Team arrival at OR Tambo on June 26, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Image by: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Image by: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
South Africa will have a difficult start and finish to their 2018 FIFA World Cup pool phase qualification with punishing trips to west Africa.
Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group D alongside Senegal‚ Burkina Faso and Cape Verde Islands‚ a draw that does give them some hope of finishing top of the pool and winning a place at the finals in Russia.
They must start that campaign in Burkina Faso on the week starting October 3‚ with the exact date of the game still to be determined.
They travelled to Ouagadougou in 2001 for a World Cup qualifier and came away with a point after Sibusiso Zuma had given them the lead.
But they were back to the 4th August Stadium four years later for another World Cup preliminary and this time went down 3-1‚ despite Zuma getting on the scoresheet again.
A month later in the week starting November 7‚ Bafana will host Senegal at home in their second qualifier.
What follows is an almost 10-month break in the qualifiers‚ with their third game only in at the end of August 2017 when they travel to the Estadio Varzea in Praia to meet Cape Verde Islands.
Their one and only previous visit came in the 2006 World Cup preliminaries as two goals inside the opening 13 minutes from Benni McCarthy and Delron Buckley handed Bafana a 2-1 win.
They will host Cape Verde a month later in September 2017‚ before entertaining Burkina Faso in October of that year.
Their final qualifier will be away against Senegal in Dakar on the week starting November 6‚ 2017‚ when they will hope to get the result that will see them win the group.
They first visited the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar for a friendly in 2004‚ but lost 2-1 despite a goal from Siyabonga Nomvethe. It remains their only visit to the west African nation.
- TMG Digital