Orlando Pirates star rewarded with Bafana Bafana start!

Bafana Bafana get their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification underway this afternoon when they host Benin at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Orlando pirates star, Evident Makgopa was rewarded with a chance to start on the national squad.

Hugo Broos’ side have been drawn alongside Benin, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zimbabwe in group C.

The only previous meeting between the two teams took place all the way back in 2004. Bafana earned a 2-0 victory at the 2004 AFCON.

Orlando Pirates star Evidence Makgopa will lead the line for South Africa this afternoon following his match winning Soweto derby performance.

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BAFANA VS BENIN: STARTING LINEUPS

South Africa XI: Williams, Mudau, Xulu, Mvala, Modiba, Sithole, Mokoena, Zwane, Tau, Hlongwane, Makgopa.

Subs: Goss, Mobbie, Sibisi, Cross, Adams, Lepasa, Kekana, Mothwa, Mthethwa, Xoki, Appollis, Mokwana, Mayambela.

Action at the Moses Mabhida Stadium gets underway at 15:00. The match will be televised live on SABC1.

SuperSport will NOT be televising the match between Bafana and Benin.

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“People are always talking about rankings, this is a big and that, you know every game against those teams is difficult. You saw Lesotho’s result. They’ve never had so much big defeats.” Bafana head coach Hugo Broos said as quoted by TimesLive.

“When they lose a game is 1-0 or 2-1 but not 6-0 like I saw in the game between Egypt and Djibouti, 6-0. You see that with those teams (like Lesotho). That means they’re tough games and we know that it will be a tough game on the other side (for Bafana against Benin).

“I always said that this was not the worst but a tricky group.”

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