Two of the continent’s most successful nations will lock horns on Matchday 3 of the African 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
On Friday, Nigeria welcome South Africa to the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, with the two sides separated by a solitary point in Group C.
In this preview, we cover all the key stats, trends and analysis. Continue reading to discover what Forebet’s AI algorithm predicts for Friday’s showdown.
Training ✅ #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/tb0gk5FQTs— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) June 2, 2024
Training ✅ #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/tb0gk5FQTs
Let’s start by looking at the hosts, Nigeria, who started their qualification campaign with back-to-back 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Since then, however, the Super Eagles have reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, defeating South Africa on penalties in the semi-finals.
Nigeria also played a couple of friendlies back in March, claiming a 2-1 victory over Ghana before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Mali.
It is also worth noting that Nigeria have been involved in many low-scoring games of late, with 10 of their previous 12 matches producing under 2.5 goals.
Meanwhile, South Africa kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 2-1 victory over Benin before suffering a shock 2-0 defeat against Rwanda.
At the Africa Cup of Nations in January, South Africa competed in three penalty shootouts, clinching third place after defeating DR Congo on spot kicks.
Like Nigeria, South Africa played two friendlies in March, playing out a 1-1 stalemate with Andorra before scoring three in a six-goal thriller against Algeria.
Interestingly, South Africa have drawn each of their last five matches in 90 minutes, with 11 draws coming in their previous 17 games across all competitions.
Head-to-head: South Africa have managed to win just one of their last 10 meetings with the Super Eagles across all competitions and friendlies.
In terms of the overall H2H statistics, Nigeria have lost only two of the 15 previous meetings, with 10 of those clashes producing under 2.5 goals.
Team news: Nigeria’s star striker Victor Osimhen is sidelined through injury, but the hosts can still call upon Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman.
As for South Africa, Burnley’s Lyle Foster has returned to the squad following an absence, having scored four goals in 12 games for his country.
When you couple Nigeria’s string of low-scoring matches with South Africa’s drawing streak, all the signs point towards a tight game on Friday.
Forebet predicts that Nigeria and South Africa will play out a low-scoring draw, with both teams netting under 1.5 goals in Uyo.