South Africa’s squad to face Nigeria in Friday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Godswill Akpabio stadium is scheduled to arrive in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, aboard a chartered flight on Wednesday.
Bafana Bafana are currently second in Group C with three points from two games – one ahead of Nigeria who sit in third place with two points. Rwanda lead the Group C with four points, Lesotho in fourth position while Benin Republic are bottom with one point.
“Bafana will take a charter flight to Uyo on Wednesday to meet Nigeria on June 7 before hosting Zimbabwe in Free State on June 11,” the South African website, The SowetanLive revealed.
The game will be Finidi George’s first official match since being appointed as the new Super Eagles coach in May. The former Nigeria international had already overseen two friendly games as interim coach in March – a 2-1 win over West African rivals, Ghana which was followed by a 2-0 loss to Mali.
Both teams will need to win to remain on schedule to qualify for the global showpiece having missed out on the last edition hosted by Qatar in 2022. Nigeria defeated South Africa 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the last Africa Cup of Nations in Bouake after full-time scores were levelled at 1-1.
Meanwhile, 15 Super Eagles players took part in Monday’s morning training session in Uyo which lasted for two hours ahead of the game. The players who trained are Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukweze, Fisayo Bashiru, Stanley Nwabali, Ismaila Sodiq, Kenneth Igboke and Ibrahim Olawoyin.
Others are Victor Boniface, Rapheal Onyedika, Alhassan Yusuf, Chidozie Awaziem, Ojo Olorunleke, Terem Moffi and Benjamin Tanimu. While players expected in camp are Maduka Okoye, Ademola Lookman, Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Semi Ajayi, Paul Onuachu and Frank Onyeka.
