Bafana Secures June Friendly Matches

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has officially confirmed the two nations against which Bafana Bafana will play friendly matches in June.

The June calendar is reserved for friendly games in the CAF zone, as the World Cup qualifiers will resume in September and October.

These friendly matches will take place before the start of the FIFA Club World Cup in June in the United States of America, which will feature South African side Mamelodi Sundowns.

As June is reserved for friendly matches, SAFA has moved quickly to secure home games against Tanzania on 6 June and Namibia four days later.

Sportswire has been informed that one of these games might be played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, as talks are ongoing.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos confirmed during the March World Cup qualifiers that he would not call up any players from Sundowns due to their involvement in the Club World Cup, stating that they should relax and focus on the major tournament in America.

Following these two matches, Bafana Bafana, who currently lead their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, will face Lesotho (away) on 5 September and Nigeria (at home) four days later.

Their final two FIFA World Cup qualifiers will be against Zimbabwe (away) on 10 October and Rwanda (at home). However, the away matches against Lesotho in September and Zimbabwe in October are set to be played in South Africa, as these two nations have been doing so due to their stadiums not meeting CAF and FIFA requirements, resulting in a ban.

SAFA has also scheduled a friendly match for Bafana Bafana on 15 November, with the opponent yet to be announced.

After that, Bafana will begin their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Morocco against Angola on 22 December, followed by Egypt on 26 December. They will conclude the AFCON group stages against Zimbabwe on 29 December.

They will hope to have performed well enough by then to reach the AFCON knockout stages.