Source: @Nova News
The picture around Bafana Bafana‘s upcoming matches has come into focus, and it is a demanding one for Pitso Mosimane as he starts his second spell in charge of the national team. Three fixtures inside nine days will tell us plenty about where this squad stands going into the business end of the AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign.
Mosimane’s first match back on the bench comes against Guinea on 26 September 2026, a home qualifier that carries obvious weight given how tightly contested Group B has been. From there the team flies to Eritrea for a second qualifier on 30 September, before rounding off the run with a friendly against Egypt in Cairo on 4 October, kicking off at 20h00 South African time.
That Egypt fixture has been officially locked in by the Egyptian Football Association, and it reopens a rivalry that still stings for South African supporters. The two sides last met in December 2025 at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, a match Egypt won 1-0 through a Mohamed Salah penalty, awarded after a VAR review just before half time. Egypt finished that game with ten men after Mohamed Hany was sent off, yet a late shout for a Bafana Bafana penalty, when Yasser Ibrahim seemed to handle the ball, was waved away following a further VAR check. It was the kind of result that leaves a mark, and a friendly rematch in Cairo gives both camps a chance to settle old scores without the pressure of a competitive fixture.
WHY THE EGYPT FRIENDLY MEANS MORE THAN THE SCORELINE
Mosimane knows Egyptian football intimately, having won two CAF Champions League titles at the helm of Al Ahly, so this is not a trip into unfamiliar territory for him. SAFA president Danny Jordaan has pointed to that history as one of the more interesting subplots of the fixture, suggesting familiarity on both sides could sharpen an already keen contest. Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida has framed the occasion differently, describing it as a chance to renew a longstanding football relationship between the two countries rather than simply another line on the calendar.
From a coaching perspective, three matches against three very different opponents inside a fortnight is a useful stress test. Guinea will demand control at home, Eritrea away tests squad depth and travel management, and Egypt offers a look at a side that has already beaten this group in a knockout-style setting. Mosimane is expected to name a preliminary squad before the week is out, and the make-up of that group, particularly whether he leans on experience or blends in newer faces, will say a lot about how he intends to approach the qualifiers beyond October.
For now, the fixtures themselves tell their own story: two qualifiers that carry direct World Cup and AFCON consequences, followed by a friendly loaded with history against a familiar rival.
