Bafana Bafana are ever edging closer to their FIFA World Cup glory, despite being held to a tense 1-1 draw by Nigeria during their clash at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.
South Africa and the Super Eagles could not be separated once again in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, after they played to a 1-1 stalemate earlier this year in Uyo, Nigeria.
The result means Bafana remain on top of Group C with 17 points, while Nigeria climbed above Benin into second position with 11 points with two matches remaining. Benin will be in action against Lesotho, with their game set to kick-off at 9pm.
Proving to be a man with no worries whatsoever, Hugo Broos was seated for about 20 minutes into the game, looking calm in his dugout, as opposed to his under-pressure counterpart Éric Chelle, who was going up and down the touchline like a man possessed.
Broos only stood up in the 20th minute when things were getting physical and a bit rough between the two sides, which saw Siyabonga Ngezana and Ademola Lookman’s scuffle resulting in a yellow card for both players.
Maybe, just maybe, that is what the game needed, as it opened up and Bafana managed to break the deadlock through an own goal from captain William Troost-Ekong after Mohau Nkota’s well-worked cross caught him off guard.
That goal fired up the boisterous Bloemfontein crowd, who are famously known for singing their lungs out and giving a memorable stadium experience.
Nigeria did not pose much of a threat to Ronwen Williams’ goal, as Bafana surprisingly matched the physicality of the huge West Africans.
Despite looking solid most parts of the first half, the Bafana defense was, however, caught napping right at the stroke of half-time, when they failed to organize themselves at the back and conceded a disappointing equaliser via a Calvin Bassey header to go into the break all square.
The tempo of the game increased in the second half, as both teams were in search of that all-important winning goal.
Teenage sensation Mbekezeli “TLB” Mbokazi was probably the closest to getting that goal when he burst through the Super Eagles’ midfield and attempted a spectacular shot from the center line after spotting Stanley Nwabali out of his line, but his effort went just over the post.
Tensions grew from both benches after a dangerous tackle on Teboho Mokoena from a Nigerian player, with the technical teams having a go at each other, but the referee was able to call a truce between the two coaches.
The two sides pushed and took the game to each other, but they could not be separated and settled for a draw.
