On Friday 7, June, 2024, Nigeria’s Super Eagles will strive to get their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign back on track when they host South Africa’s Bafana Bafana at God’s will Akpabio International Stadium Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
It is one of two qualifiers for the Eagles as they will also play away to Benin Republic at the Squirrels’ Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire makeshift home on June 10.
Ahead of the crucial game in Uyo, Completesports.com’s JAMES AGBEREBI takes a look at 10 interesting facts about Super Eagles Vs Bafana Bafana
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The first-ever Super Eagles – Bafana Bafana clash was also a World Cup qualifier
The first time the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana met was during the qualifiers for the USA 1994 World Cup on October 10 1992 at the National Stadium, Lagos.
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It was in the First Round of the qualifiers in Group D, which the Eagles won 4-0 thanks to a brace from Rashidi Yekini and a goal each from Samson Siasia and Richard Owubokiri.
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Bafana have been unbeaten against Super Eagles in their last two trips to Nigeria
The last time Bafana Bafana lost to the Super Eagles in Nigeria was on 1st July, 2008 in Abuja, a 2-0 defeat in the First round, Group 4 of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Despite being the hosts of the 2010 World Cup, South Africa took part in the qualifiers.
Since the defeat in 2008, Bafana Bafana have been unbeaten in their last two visits to Nigeria.
Bafana Bafana held the Eagles to a 2-2 draw at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, in the final group game in the race for the 2015 AFCON. Bafana Bafana had already qualified for the 2015 AFCON prior to the game against the Eagles.
Also, in the qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON, Bafana Bafana recorded a first-ever competitive game win against the Eagles as they triumphed 2-0 also at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
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Super Eagles dominate Bafana Bafana in head-to-head matchups
In 15 meetings between the two teams, the Super Eagles have recorded the most wins and bagged five draws.
On their part, Bafana Bafana have only recorded two wins against the Eagles. The first was a 2-1 win in the Mandela Challenge in 2004 and the 2-0 win during qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON.
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Super Eagles have won all four fixtures against Bafana at AFCON
Both countries have met four times at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Eagles winning all four encounters.
They first met at the AFCON in the semi-finals of the 2000 edition co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria which the Eagles won 2-0.
Their paths crossed again in the group stage of the AFCON 2004 in Tunisia and this time the Eagles recorded a dominant 4-0 win with Osaze Odenwingie (brace), Austin Okocha and Joseph Yobo as the goal scorers.
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In the quarter-finals of the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, goals from Samuel Chukwueze and William Troost-Ekong gave the Eagles a 2-1 win.
Their recent meeting at the AFCON was in the semi-finals of Côte d’Ivoire 2023 which the Jose Peseiro led side won 4-2 on penalties after regulation time ended 1-1.
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Super Eagles have never lost away to Bafana in competitive meetings
The Eagles have faced Bafana Bafana in four competitive games in South Africa but have never lost.
The first was during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers and the Eagles held Bafana Bafana to a goalless draw in the second leg at the FNB Stadium Johannesburg. The first leg ended 4-0 in favour of the Super Eagles.
In 2008, an Ikechukwu Uche second half strike secured a 1-0 win in the second leg of the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
Both teams clashed in the first leg, group stage In 2014 during the qualifiers for the AFCON 2015 and the Eagles held Bafana Bafana to a 0-0 draw.
In 2018, the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana played out a 1-1 draw in the final group stage game of the qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON. The draw was enough for the Eagles to qualify for AFCON 2019.
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Bafana’s first competitive win vs Super Eagles was in Nigeria
After years of disappointment, Bafana Bafana eventually defeated the Eagles in a competitive game.
The 1996 AFCON winners shocked the Eagles 2-0 in Uyo in 2017 during qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.
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It remains their only competitive match win against the three-time AFCON champions.
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Super Eagles have never lost to Bafana Bafana in World Cup qualifiers
The two teams have met four times in FIFA World Cup qualifiers with the Eagles recording three wins and a draw.
First was the qualifiers for the USA 1994 World Cup and also for the 2010 edition held in South Africa. The Eagles have gone on to qualify for the World Cup each time they were pooled in the group with Bafana Bafana.
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Super Eagles have not beaten Bafana Bafana by two-goal margin in 11 years
The last time the Eagles beat Bafana Bafana by two-goal margin was a 2-0 win in 2013 in an international friendly- Nelson Mandela Challenge.
Since the 2-0 win, the Eagles have not managed a two-goal margin victory against Bafana Bafana in their last seven meetings.
The last seven encounters have ended 0-0, 2-2, 1-1, 2-0 (in favour of Bafana Bafana), 1-1, 2-1 (in favour of the Eagles at AFCON 2019) and 1-1 (regulation time in the seemi-finals of AFCON 2023 ).
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Super Eagles have recorded the biggest wins in clashes with Bafana Bafana
In their 15 encounters with Bafana Bafana, the Eagles have recorded the biggest wins which were 4-0 wins on two occasions.
The first time the Eagles beat South Africa 4-0 was During qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
They repeated the feat in the group stage of AFCON 2004 in Tunisia where they progressed to the quarter-finals with Morocco while Bafana Bafana and Benin Republic crashed out.
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Austin Okocha’s goal vs Bafana Bafana at Tunisia 2004 was the 1000th in AFCON history
After opening their group stage campaign at the AFCON 2004 with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Morocco, the Super Eagles bounced back with a dominant 4-0 win against Bafana Bafana.
Among the goal scorers for the Eagles was legendary captain Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, who converted a second half penalty to make it 2-0.
His goal was the 1,000th goal of the African Nations Cup, and he was presented with a special award by the then CAF President, Issa Hayatou.
Super Eagles en Bafana Bafana zijn twee van de meest populaire nationale voetbalteams in Afrika. Ze hebben een rijke geschiedenis en hebben fans over de hele wereld. Hier zijn 10 interessante feiten over de rivaliteit tussen deze twee teams:
1. De Super Eagles en Bafana Bafana hebben elkaar voor het eerst ontmoet in 1992 tijdens een vriendschappelijke wedstrijd. Sindsdien hebben ze regelmatig tegen elkaar gespeeld in verschillende competities en toernooien.
2. Nigeria heeft een voorsprong op Zuid-Afrika wat betreft het aantal overwinningen in hun onderlinge wedstrijden. De Super Eagles hebben 13 keer gewonnen, terwijl Bafana Bafana slechts 4 keer heeft gewonnen.
3. Een van de meest memorabele ontmoetingen tussen de twee teams vond plaats tijdens de Africa Cup of Nations in 2004. Nigeria versloeg Zuid-Afrika met 4-0 in de kwartfinale van het toernooi.
4. Beide teams hebben enkele van de beste spelers van het continent voortgebracht. Nigeria heeft spelers als Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu en John Obi Mikel voortgebracht, terwijl Zuid-Afrika spelers als Lucas Radebe, Benni McCarthy en Steven Pienaar heeft voortgebracht.
5. De Super Eagles hebben drie keer de Africa Cup of Nations gewonnen, terwijl Bafana Bafana het toernooi slechts één keer heeft gewonnen, in 1996 toen ze het gastland waren.
6. Nigeria heeft zich regelmatig gekwalificeerd voor de Wereldbeker, terwijl Zuid-Afrika slechts twee keer heeft deelgenomen aan het toernooi (in 1998 en 2010).
7. De rivaliteit tussen de twee teams is niet alleen op het veld te zien, maar ook buiten het veld. Fans van beide teams zijn gepassioneerd en steunen hun team met trots.
8. De wedstrijden tussen de Super Eagles en Bafana Bafana trekken altijd veel aandacht en worden beschouwd als een van de hoogtepunten van het Afrikaanse voetbal.
9. Nigeria en Zuid-Afrika hebben ook een sterke rivaliteit in andere sporten, zoals rugby en atletiek.
10. Ondanks de rivaliteit tussen de twee teams, is er ook respect en waardering voor elkaars talent en prestaties. De wedstrijden tussen de Super Eagles en Bafana Bafana zijn altijd spannend en onvoorspelbaar, wat bijdraagt aan de charme van deze rivaliteit.
