{"id":91508,"date":"2025-10-14T15:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:12:04","slug":"bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup","title":{"rendered":"Bafana Bafana Must Win Against Rwanda for World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South Africa will put everything on the line on Tuesday night as they take on Rwanda in a must-win FIFA World Cup qualifying clash.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s draw against Zimbabwe means that Bafana Bafana will need a favourable result and hope that rivals Nigeria can hold Benin if they are to qualify for the tournament.<\/p>\n

While South Africa went into Group C as the favourites and had a good lead, three points were deducted by FIFA for fielding an ineligible player.<\/p>\n

“It is so sad, if you look at our qualifying campaign, we were literally closing and in control of that group until this administrative bumble came back to haunt us,\u201d says Soccer Laduma editor, Vuyani Joni.<\/p>\n

Joni said that Rwanda would put up a fight, despite having no chance at qualification.<\/p>\n

“It is definitely not going to be easy. This is the Rwanda that beat us when we visited them in the first leg… They don\u2019t have much to play for, but it does not mean that they will be a walkover.”<\/p>\n

Bafana Bafana are currently second in Group C, two points behind Benin, who face Nigeria at the same time.<\/p>\n

If they hope to qualify for the 2025 FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2010, they will need to a convincing win against Rwanda.<\/p>\n

If Nigeria beats Benin, they will automatically qualify.<\/p>\n

A draw or a loss will eliminate any chance of qualification.<\/p>\n

If Benin and Nigeria draw, South Africa will need to beat Rwanda by three or more goals to qualify.<\/p>\n

To listen to Vuyani Joni, editor at Soccer Laduma, in conversation with CapeTalk and 702\u2019s Africa Melane, click the audio below:<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa will put everything on the line on Tuesday night as they take on Rwanda in a must-win FIFA World Cup qualifying clash. Last week\u2019s draw against Zimbabwe means that Bafana Bafana will need a favourable result and hope that rivals Nigeria can hold Benin if they are to qualify for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-91508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBafana Bafana Must Win Against Rwanda for World Cup - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Africa will put everything on the line on Tuesday night as they take on Rwanda in a must-win FIFA World Cup qualif ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bafana Bafana Must Win Against Rwanda for World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa will put everything on the line on Tuesday night as they take on Rwanda in a must-win FIFA World Cup qualif ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-14T15:46:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-14T16:12:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1760445605.022466.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Bafana Bafana Must Win Against Rwanda for World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-14T15:46:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-14T16:12:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\"},\"wordCount\":297,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1760445605.022466.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/bafana-bafana-must-win-against-rwanda-for-world-cup\",\"name\":\"Bafana Bafana Must Win Against Rwanda for World Cup - 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