The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers are set to resume this week, and in Group K, we will see South Africa taking on Congo at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday evening.
With the competition reaching the halfway point this week, this match will be the first of a double-header, with these two teams locking horns again in four day's time in Brazzaville.
Match preview
© Imago
After managing their best-ever AFCON placement since 1999-00 earlier this year, South Africa have made a positive start to their new qualification campaign, currently second in the group standings, level on four points with Uganda.
Bafana Bafana kicked off their qualifiers against the Cranes with a thrilling 2-2 draw last month and followed up with another nail-biting matchup which they won 3-2 against South Sudan in week two of the competition.
With those results, Hugo Broos's side have now extended their impressive unbeaten streak across all competitions to 10 in a row, a record that dates all the way to their AFCON semi-final defeat against Nigeria back in February.
One area that Broos has mentioned he wants to see his side improve this month is their defensive solidity, as they have only kept one clean sheet since the last AFCON (nine games), while during the tournament in the Ivory Coast, his side played six matches and only conceded just twice.
Historically, matches between these two sides have been closely contested, with three of the four previous encounters ending level, while the sole victory in that time went the way of Bafana Bafana during qualification for the 2015 edition of this competition.
© Imago
However, while Congo have fared relatively well in this fixture in the past, the side have had to endure a very difficult time in recent months, particularly in the immediate lead-up to this double-header.
Less than a week before the team were set to travel to Gqeberha for this match, the Congolese Football Federation (Fecofoot) was forced to shut down, a day before the final squad was announced.
This is just the latest blow that Congolese football has suffered in recent times - just three months ago the side was handed a 3-0 loss for not showing up for their World Cup qualifier in neighbouring DR Congo against Niger.
As far as performances go, the Red Devils lost their last match 2-0 to Uganda but did beat South Sudan in round one of qualifying 1-0, though that victory was the only one they have managed since beating the same opponent back in March 2023.
Team News
© Imago
South Africa received a massive injury boost ahead of this month's qualifiers, with team captain Ronwen Williams returning to full fitness after missing the first two matches with a shoulder injury.
However, Bafana Bafana's saviour Thalente Mbatha, who scored the leveller against Uganda and the winner over South Sudan, both in stoppage time, is ruled out due to injury, while Stellenbosch midfielder Jayden Adams has been dropped.
As for Congo, there has been no official confirmation of the squad that will travel to Southern Africa for this match, though it is reported that they remain unchanged from the first two rounds.
If that is to be the case, the Red Devils will look to the likes of Merveil Ndockyt and Young Boys forward Silvere Ganvoula to cause the host nation problems in attack, while Bryan Passi and Ryan Bidounga will likely team up in central defence.
South Africa possible starting lineup:
Williams; Mudau, Kekana, Dortley, Modiba; Appollis, Mokoena, Aubaas, Zwane, Mofokeng; Foster
Congo possible starting lineup:
Ndzila; Andzouana, Passi, Bidounga, Poaty; Dembi, Massanga; Bassouamina, Mboungou, Ndockyt; Ganvoula
We say: South Africa 2-0 Congo
While Congo have caused opponents difficulty in the last year, such as holding the likes of Gambia and Gabon to draws and only narrowly losing to Zambia, their off-field issues have taken a toll on their performances in recent months, and we feel that they will struggle to keep up with the home side in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
