With the 2017 Gabon Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the 2016 Nelson Mandela Challenge now something of the past, Bafana Bafana are shifting focus and are gearing up for perhaps their toughest mission over the next few months – the 2018 FIFA World Cup RussiaTM
With the 2017 Gabon Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the 2016 Nelson Mandela Challenge now something of the past, Bafana Bafana are shifting focus and are gearing up for perhaps their toughest mission over the next few months – the 2018 FIFA World Cup RussiaTM
South Africa has been drawn in Group D alongside Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cape Verde, with only one team due to qualify for Russia 2018.
Bafana Bafana will start their campaign with a tricky visit to Burkina Faso on Saturday, 8 October this year.
The clash has been set down for Stade Du 4 Aout in Ouagadougou and will kick off at 18h00 local time (20h00 SA Time).
This will be followed by a home match against Senegal that will take place on Saturday, 12 November at 15h00 at a venue to be announced shortly.
There will then be a seven-month break from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, with World Cup qualification action resuming in August 2017 when South Africa faces Cape Verde in back to back clashes.
The first match will be away on the weekend of 1/2 August 2017 in Cape Verde, before Bafana Bafana welcome them in South Africa on Tuesday, 5 September at 19h00. The venue will also be announced shortly.
The Senior Men’s National Team will then host Burkina Faso on Saturday, 7 October 2017 before rounding off the qualifiers with an away match to Senegal on the weekend of 10/12 November 2017.
NB: In the last round of the world cup qualifiers, all matches will be played on the same day at the same time and those will be determined by CAF/FIFA.
The 2018 World Cup draw will be held on Friday, 1 December 2017 in Moscow.
The tournament will take place from 14 June – 15 July 2018.
Fact file:
- The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup
- It is a quadrennial (held every four years) international football tournament contested by the men’s senior national teams of the member associations of FIFA
- Russia was awarded the hosting rights on 2 December 2010
- This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since 2006 in Germany
- The final tournament will involve 32 national teams – 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team (Russia)
- A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities
- The final is expected to take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium
- The winners will automatically qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
2018 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS RUSSIA
Burkina Faso vs South Africa
Saturday, 8 October 2016
18h00 Burkina Faso (20h00 SA Time)
Stade Du 4 Aout
Ouagadougou
South Africa vs Senegal
Saturday, 12 November 2016
15h00
(Venue TBC)
Cape Verde vs South Africa
1/2 September 2017
(Time and Venue TBC)
South Africa vs Cape Verde
Tuesday, 5 September 2017
19h00
(Venue TBC)
South Africa vs Burkina Faso
Saturday, 7 October 2017
15h00
(Venue TBC)
Senegal vs South Africa
10/12 November 2017
(Time and Venue TBC)