Good news for Bafana Bafana!

Due to their impressive performance in the recent Africa Cup of Nations finals, they will avoid facing top-ranked African nations during the qualifiers for the 2025 tournament.

The draw for the qualifiers will take place on Thursday (14:30) in Johannesburg at the SuperSport studios in Randburg. Emerse Fae, head coach of Ivory Coast, and former Moroccan international Marouane Chamakh will be assisting with the draw. A total of 48 teams will be drawn into 12 groups and top two nations will qualify for the tournament.

Bafana Bafana’s strong showing has landed them in Pot 1 alongside other high-ranked teams like Morocco (the host nation), Senegal, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, DR Congo, and Ghana. This means they won’t be drawn against these teams in the qualifying stages.

However, Bafana Bafana could potentially face tougher opponents from Pot 2, which includes Cape Verde (who gave them a hard time during the AFCON quarterfinals) or Angola.

Bafana, who secured the bronze medal in February’s AFCON, previously finished second in their qualifying campaign behind Morocco. They notably lost to Morocco in the first leg before winning in Mzansi. However, they exacted revenge by overcoming them in the round of 16 at the AFCON finals.

The qualifiers are scheduled to begin in September of this year and conclude in November. The tournament itself will be held on 21 December 2025 and extend into 18 January 2026. This adjusted schedule is due to the FIFA Club World Cup taking place in the United States next year and the FIFA World Cup scheduled for 2026 across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Ivory Coast is the current AFCON champion after defeating Nigeria in the final in February.