South Africa and Uganda begin their quest for a place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations when they square off at the Orlando Stadium on Friday. This will be the first meeting between the two nations since June 2021, when Bafana Bafana secured a thrilling 3-2 victory in a friendly.
South Africa suffered a group-stage exit from the 2024 COSAFA Cup as they finished second in Group A, losing out to first-placed Mozambique on goal difference.
Before that, Bafana kicked off their World Cup qualifying journey on a solid note, picking up two wins and one draw from their four matches to sit second in Group C, level on seven points with first-placed Rwanda.
South Africa head into the weekend unbeaten in their last six competitive matches, picking up three draws and three wins, including a penalty-shootout victory over Congo DR in the 2023 AFCON third-place playoff on February 10.
Uganda, on the other hand, were denied consecutive wins in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as they fell to a 2-1 loss against Algeria at the Mandela National Stadium on June 10.
The Cranes have now picked up two wins and lost two of their four matches in Group G of the World Cup qualifying campaign to sit fifth in the table, three points off first-placed Algeria.
Uganda have missed out on the last two AFCON editions, stretching back to their round-of-16 exit in 2019, and will look to begin their quest for a place in Morocco as they mean to go on.
South Africa vs Uganda Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the sixth meeting between South Africa and Uganda, with Bafana picking up four wins and one draw in their previous five encounters.
- South Africa have gone eight straight games without defeat across all competitions, claiming three wins and five draws since losing to Nigeria on penalties in the 2023 AFCON semi-finals in February.
- Uganda are unbeaten in six of their last seven competitive away games, picking up five wins and one draw since August 2022.
- There have been fewer than three goals scored in eight of South Africa’s last 10 matches across all competitions while they have conceded eight goals in that time.
South Africa vs Uganda Prediction
South Africa are on a dominant run against Uganda and will be backing themselves to kick off their AFCON qualifying journey on the front foot.
Given the gulf in quality and depth between the two teams, we are backing Bafana Bafana to come away with the desired result this weekend.
Prediction: South Africa 1-0 Uganda
South Africa vs Uganda Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - South Africa to win
Tip 2: Over 4.5 cards - No (There have been fewer than five bookings in nine of South Africa’s last 10 matches)
Tip 3: Over 10.5 corners - No (There have also been fewer than 11 corner kicks in six of the hosts’ last seven games)