*Aside 2010 Hosting, This Is Our Best Chance Since 2002 -Press
*Fear FIFA Hammer Over Ineligible Player
Ahead of Nigeria’s vital World Cup qualifier (WCQ) against Bafana Bafana of South Africa, the press are already ramping up tension among football fans in the late President Nelson Mandela’s country.
The match is slated for September 9 this year. The first leg in Uyo ended 1-1 in June, 2024.
South Africa presently leads Super Eagles’ group, Group C , with only the top team in each of Africa’s nine groups directly qualifying for the World Cup to be hosted by the trio of U.S, Mexico and Canada.
Nigeria are currently placed fourth in the six-team Group C, which also has, aside South Africa, Rwanda (currently second), Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Benin Republic.
In a report headlined ‘Bafana Bafana’s huge World Cup clash against Nigeria to be hosted in the Free State’, The Sowetan newspaper offered preliminary information on how the South Africans are preparing for the big game, which may determine which of both old rivals eventually goes to the 2026 World Cup.
The Sowetan , one of the largest national newspapers in South Africa, is an English-language daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a black liberation struggle tabloid during the apartheid era. As of 2006, it reportedly had a readership of two million.
The report in The Sowetan , ran on Friday , August 2 at 4.23pm Nigeria time. People&Politics inserted the Rand-to-Naira gate fee currency conversion in the story.
The story read: “Bafana Bafana’s hugely important 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Nigeria will be played at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on September 9, the South African Football Association announced on Friday.
“The match against the Super Eagles will be played just a few days after Bafana face Lesotho in an “away” qualifier at the same venue on September 5.
“Bafana have potentially their best chance of qualifying for a World Cup, other than as hosts, since 2002 as they lead the six-team Group C with 13 points from five matches to Rwanda and Benin’s eight and Nigeria’s seven.
“Phase one of the ticket sales for the match against Nigeria will be sold at the stadium from August 2, with adults being charged R70 (about N5,880.54, as of today’s equivalence) and children R40 (about N3,360.31, as of today’s equivalence). Phase two will open on August 9 with tickets available at Ticketpro at R100 (about N8,400.77, as of today’s equivalence).
“Phase three will kick off on August 16 at R150 (about N12, 601.15) for tickets for the grandstand area, to be sold at Spar, PostNet and most petrol stations.
“Both the Lesotho and Nigeria matches will kick off at 6pm. Lesotho will announce how tickets for that match will be sold.
“Fifa are yet to announce whether South Africa will be sanctioned, potentially with points docked, for fielding ineligible Teboho Mokoena (who should have been suspended) in their 2-0 victory over Lesotho in Polokwane in March.
“The top teams from nine African groups qualify for the first 48-team World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the US, with four best runners-up going into playoffs for one more place.
“Bafana drew their away fixture against Nigeria — compounding a disastrous start to the campaign by the Super Eagles — 1-1 in Uyo in June 2024.”
