Bafana Bafana face Mambas threat in Cosafa opener

South Africa will look to get their 2024 Cosafa Cup campaign off to a strong start when they face Mozambique in their Group A opener, set for the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Wednesday 26 June.

Kick-off is at 6pm CAT.

South Africa are five-time Cosafa Cup champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016 & 2021) but were beaten in the semifinals by eventual champions Zambia in last year’s edition – they then went on to defeat Malawi on penalties in the third place playoff.

Bafana Bafana, who will be led in this tournament by assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, have named a strong squad which features a mix of DStv Premiership regulars and up-and-coming stars – best exemplified by the likes of Jaedin Rhodes, Devin Titus and Yanela Mbuthuma.

“For us to be able to compete and achieve our results, our view is that it is important to have more players to select from, but more importantly, players with the required competence to perform at the highest level of football,” said Mkhalele.

“As we observed during the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast earlier in 2024, football on the continent has improved drastically.

“So, for us to sustain the current performance of Bafana Bafana and improve it, it is important that we have players who can perform at that level without any doubt.”

Mozambique are two-time runners-up in the regional tournament (2008 & 2015), while last year they failed to get out of the first round after finishing behind Lesotho and Angola in their group.

The Mambas will be hungry to match the form shown by their full national team earlier this month, as they defeated Somalia and Guinea to massively boost their hopes of a first qualification to the Fifa World Cup.

In head-to-head stats, South Africa and Mozambique have met in 10 previous matches, dating back as far as 1995. Bafana Bafana have claimed seven wins compared to two for the Mambas, while one game has been drawn.

The teams last met in an international friendly in November 2022 which South Africa won 2-1 at the Mbombela Stadium – thanks to a brace of goals from Bongokuhle Hlongwane.