Bafana Bafana to storm Uyo Wednesday with personal food, water

Barring any last-minute hitches, Nigeria’s opponents in the June 11 World Cup qualifiers, Bafana Bafana of South Africa, will touch down in Uyo next Wednesday, The Guardian can exclusively report.

Word was rife in Jo’burg that the contingent would land in Uyo on a chartered flight with personal food and water two days before the much-anticipated encounter between the two rivals.

Top South African journalist Sazi Hadebe of Times Live confirmed Bafana Bafana’s itinerary on Friday afternoon.

“Bafana will take a charter flight to Uyo on Wednesday to meet Nigeria on June 7 before hosting Zimbabwe in Free State on June 11,” Hadebe wrote.

South Africa currently occupies second place in Group C with three points to Rwanda’s four, while Nigeria, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe have two points and Benin one.

The top teams from the nine African groups qualify for the first 48-team World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the US, while the four best runners-up go into a playoff to decide one side that will contest a six-team intercontinental tournament. Bafana started with a 2-1 win against Benin at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, then lost 2-0 away to Rwanda, both in November last year.

Nigeria’s poor start, drawing matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, has left the group wide open, and South Africa could put themselves in the driving seat with positive results in next month’s matches.

Nigeria needs an outright win over Bafana Bafana to stand a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup after missing out on the last edition in Qatar.

The Super Eagles will also take on Benin Republic in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at a neutral venue after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruled that stadiums in Benin are not good enough to host international matches.

The Benin Football Association has also completed all modalities to play the game in one of the stadiums used during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. It would be recalled that Nigeria edged out Bafana Bafana in the semi-final of AFCON 2024 on penalties.