Bafana to face familiar foes after ‘friendly’ Afcon finals draw

It could have been much worse, though Bafana don’t have the best record against Tunisia and Mali.

Bafana Bafana can be relatively pleased with the luck of the draw they received yesterday, when the teams were pulled out of the proverbial hat for the group stages of next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast.

With South Africa seeded only in pot three, Hugo Broos’ men could easily have faced a daunting task in the early stages of the competition, but the trio of Tunisia, Mali and Namibia in Group E, on paper, should give Bafana an excellent chance of reaching the last 16.

Then again, Bafana’s record at Afcon finals against Tunisia and Mali, the two top seeds in their group, is underwhelming.

Tunisia are the top seeds in Bafana’s group, and Bafana have a long history of facing the Carthage Eagles at the Afcon finals.

In 1996, of course, Mark Williams scored twice as Bafana beat Tunisia 2-0 in the final to lift their only Afcon title so far. Tunisia have had the upper hand of late, however, beating Bafana in the group stages of both the 2006 and 2008 finals.

Bafana have played Mali twice before at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, Carlos Queiroz’ side losing in the quarterfinals in 2002. For that game Mali were hosts and the next time the sides met, it was South Africa who were hosts, in the 2013 quarterfinals.

But the result was the same as Gordon Igesund’s side were beaten on penalties, after a 1-1 draw. Tokelo Rantie scored for Bafana but the legendary Seydou Keita equalised for Mali

Namibia will provide a rematch of the game between the two sides at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where Bafana won 1-0 in Cairo, with Bongani Zungu netting the only goal of the game. The Southern African rivals also drew 0-0 in a friendly at Orlando Stadium only last month.

The full Afcon draw:

Group A

Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau

Group B

Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique

Group C

Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Gambia

Group D

Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola

Group E

Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia

Group F