SA to snap trend of slow Afcon starts as Broos hits 50 caps

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Bafana Bafana will open their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Angola in Marrakech on Monday, hoping to finally snap a worrying trend of slow starts at the continental showpiece.

South Africa’s record in Afcon openers makes for uncomfortable reading. Across their previous 11 tournament appearances, Bafana have won just three opening matches, drawn four and lost four.

Alarmingly, they have lost their first game at each of their last three Afcon tournaments, and have not tasted victory in an opening fixture in 21 years.

Adding intrigue is the fact that Angola – Monday’s opponents – have twice frustrated South Africa in tournament openers.


South Africa coach Hugo Broos Broos has said that beating Angola is critical to their chances of going far in Morocco.

“Losing your first group match, as we did last year to Mali, puts you under immediate intense pressure,” he said. “Your second match becomes a must-win affair and, fortunately, we did that last year by beating Namibia.

“Were we to fail against Angola, we would then need to beat Egypt, a nation that has been champions a record seven times, and is led by Mohamed Salah.


“We dare not underestimate Zimbabwe either. They may be the lowest ranked of the teams in our section, but they always raise their game against us.”

1998: Angola 0 South Africa 0

This may have been Benni McCarthy’s tournament, the young striker ending as joint topscorer. But it almost ended in disaster in the opener.

Bafana were held to a goalless draw by Angola in a fiery encounter in Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. McCarthy was on the verge of a second yellow card in an ill-tempered affair, but coach Jomo Sono’s quick thinking in whisking the striker off on a stretcher prevented further sanction by the referee and saved McCarthy’s tournament.

2008: Angola 1 South Africa 1

Ten years later, at the 2008 finals in Ghana, Angola again proved stubborn opposition. Former Manchester United striker Manucho gave the Palancas Negras the lead on the half-hour mark before Elrio van Heerden rescued a late 1-1 draw for Carlos Alberto Parreira’s side. South Africa would ultimately finish bottom of their group.

2015: Algeria 3 South Africa 1

More recent Afcon openers underline Bafana’s struggles. In 2015, Shakes Mashaba’s side were overrun 3-1 by Algeria despite scoring first, and exited early, having managed only a single point in the group stages.

2019: Côte d’Ivoire 1 South Africa 0

Jonathan Kodjia from English club Aston Villa scored the only goal at a near-empty Al Salam Stadium in Cairo to mark a poor start for Bafana as their campaign got off to a poor start. A narrow win over Namibia in their next game allowed them to scrape into the round of 16, where they then upset hosts Egypt, before losing to Nigeria in the semi-finals.

2023: Mali 2 South Africa 0

Two goals in six minutes from the hour mark saw Mali post a deserved victory in Korhogo. Bafana did come back and went on to post their best performance since 2000, taking home the bronze medal with several dollops of good fortune.

Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images

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Lindiz Vanzilla