Bafana Bafana vs Egypt Preview: Team News, H2H, Prediction & Bet

Egypt vs South Africa
FIFA International Friendly – Sunday, 4 October 2026
Venue: Cairo International Stadium

Recent form

Bafana Bafana have made a perfect start to their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign, beating Guinea before producing an emphatic 5-0 victory over Eritrea in Cairo on 30 September. Relebohile Mofokeng scored twice, while Oswin Appollis, Iqraam Rayners and Luther Singh also found the net.

Egypt also won 5-0 in their most recent outing, defeating South Sudan in Juba. Omar Marmoush scored twice, with Mostafa Ziko, Ibrahim Adel and Abdelkarim also on the scoresheet.

That means both teams arrive having scored 10 goals between them in their previous matches without conceding.

Team news

South Africa

Pitso Mosimane is using the Egypt game as another opportunity to assess his squad during his first international window since returning as Bafana Bafana coach. He selected a 30-man squad containing several new faces, including Lebone Seema, Brooklyn Poggenpoel, Yanela Mbuthuma, Puso Dithejane and Tashreeq Matthews.

Bafana’s squad retains a strong core from the 2026 World Cup group, with Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane, Oswin Appollis, Iqraam Rayners and Relebohile Mofokeng among the notable options. Mofokeng is particularly interesting after his two-goal display against Eritrea.

Egypt

Egypt will have to manage their squad after two AFCON qualifiers in the same international window. Mohamed Salah’s availability is the major talking point. Egypt left him out of the trip to South Sudan over concerns about the artificial playing surface. Coach Hossam Hassan initially said Salah would return for the South Africa friendly, but reports on 2 October indicate that the Liverpool/Trabzonspor-era star is now expected to miss the friendly.

Egypt also entered the camp without Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Yasser Ibrahim, who were listed among the original squad’s injured absentees. Mohamed Abdelmonem has also been recovering from a serious knee injury.

So far, Marmoush has shown he can carry a significant attacking threat even without Salah, scoring twice against South Sudan.

Head-to-head

According to CAF’s historical record, the nations have met 14 times entering the 2025 AFCON meeting, with:

H2H statistic	Record
South Africa wins	8
Egypt wins	4
Draws	2
South Africa unbeaten in last six	6
Last Egypt win	1-0, 2006 friendly

CAF also records South Africa as unbeaten in the six meetings preceding the 2025 AFCON encounter, winning four and drawing two.

However, the most recent meeting was different: Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0 at AFCON 2025 in December 2025.

The recent competitive history also includes South Africa’s memorable 1-0 win over Egypt in Cairo at AFCON 2019, when Thembinkosi Lorch scored late.

Why is this match important?

Although this is a friendly rather than a competitive fixture, it is an important examination for Mosimane’s new Bafana Bafana side.

Mosimane has explicitly described Egypt as a “big gun” and said facing major African opposition is important for his team.

For Bafana, the match can show whether the impressive performances against Guinea and Eritrea translate against higher-level opposition. It also gives Mosimane an opportunity to test younger players alongside his established World Cup core.

For Egypt, it is a chance to test their depth and attacking structure, particularly if Salah does not feature, while preparing for the next phase of the 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign.

The fact that the match is being played in Cairo, where South Africa recently beat Eritrea, adds another interesting element.

Prediction

Both teams come into the game with confidence after 5-0 wins, but I expect a much tighter contest.

South Africa’s pace in transition, Mofokeng’s form and the attacking threat of Appollis and Rayners could cause Egypt problems. Egypt, meanwhile, have home advantage and have demonstrated that they possess considerable attacking depth through Marmoush and their other forwards.

Prediction: Egypt 1-1 South Africa

A draw would also continue the relatively competitive nature of this fixture despite Egypt’s home advantage.

Bet.co.za bet

Suggested bet: Under 3.5 Goals

The reasoning is that this is a friendly between two strong sides, and the 5-0 scorelines from their latest matches shouldn’t necessarily be extrapolated to this fixture. Their most recent AFCON meeting finished 1-0, while several historical encounters have also been low-scoring.