SAFA has received numerous bids from six cities across South Africa to host the Bafana Bafana match against Nigeria in the FIFA World Cup qualifier next year.

According to Sportswire, SAFA will select the city with the highest bid, as they are eager to host the Super Eagles. The interested cities are Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Bloemfontein, and Rustenburg. Durban was leading the race as SAFA NEC member Kwenza Ngwenya confirmed, but they are now five other cities who have expressed an interest to this game.

Interest in Bafana Bafana matches has surged since Hugo Broos’ team won the bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, the first time Bafana Bafana has done this in 24 years. Bloemfontein’s Toyota Stadium was a lively venue for Bafana Bafana’s 3-1 victory over Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June.

SAFA has ample time to choose the host city for the Nigeria match, which will take place in September next year. Before that, Bafana Bafana will host Lesotho and then travel to Benin for their World Cup qualifying matches in March.

The Lesotho-Bafana Bafana match may also be played in South Africa due to Lesotho’s ban on hosting international matches. Lesotho has been forced to play all of its home matches in South Africa.

In the remaining months of this year, Bafana Bafana will kick off the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by hosting Uganda on 6 September at Orlando Stadium. They will then travel to South Sudan for their second match on 10 September and that game will take place at Juba Stadium in Juba.