By Michael Madyira
Bafana Bafana’s path to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament looks easy on paper following Thursday’s qualifiers draw in Johannesburg.
Hugo Broos’ men will be in Group K, along with Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan, in a bid to qualify for the continental competition, which Morocco will host.
Two teams from each group will qualify for Afcon in an apparent open road to the tournament.
All of Bafana’s Group K opponents are not perennial Afcon finals participants and were not at the last edition in Ivory Coast.
After claiming bronze in Ivory Coast, South Africa would fancy their chances of returning to the biennial tournament from this pool.
The 1996 African champions are ranked 10th on the continent, while Uganda are number 21 and Congo are 27th.
South Sudan is the lowest-ranked team in this group, at a distant 47th in Africa, and the qualifiers will kick off in September.
Meanwhile, defending champions Ivory Coast are in Group G with Zambia, Sierra Leone and Chad.
Nigeria, which finished as Ivory Coast’s runners-up at the last tournament, is in pool D, facing Benin, Libya, and Rwanda.
After having a difficult time in the last two Afcon finals, Ghana are giving it another try in Group F against Angola, Sudan and Niger.
Group B, which features hosts Morocco, will have just one team missing out on qualification. It also contains Gabon, Central African Republic, and Lesotho.
Senegal will have to overcome the challenges of Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Burundi in Group L, while Cameroon has Namibia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe in Pool J.
Record African champions Egypt will have to worry about Cape Verde, Mauritania and Botswana.
Pictured above: Bafana Bafana players celebrating Teboo Mokoena’s goal against Nigeria in the 2023 Afcon semi-finals.
Source: Bafana Bafana
