Themba Zwane opened the scoring for South Africa after a clever reverse pass by Sphephelo Sithole.  Nigeria equalised courtesy of Fisayo Dele-Bashuri in the second half for the match to end in a draw. 

In another surprise result, Lesotho beat Zimbabwe by 2 – 0 at the Orlando Stadium, to see the Mountain Kingdom top Group C with five points.  Rwanda and Benin are in second and third place respectively, with South Africa now fourth in the standings and Nigeria just behind in fifth place in the group.   Zimbabwe remains in the bottom.

Elsewhere on the continent, Mozambique triumphed 2 -1 over Somalia, with Angola scoring an early goal against Eswatini to win by 1 – 0.  Uganda defeated Botswana 1 – 0 and Morocco had to work hard for their 2 -1 victory over Zambia.

The match between Kenya and Burundi ended in a 1 – 1 draw, while Madagascar was too strong for their Indian Ocean neighbours, Comores beating them by 2 – 1.  Africa Cup of Nations holders Ivory Coast were victorious against Gabon, scoring one goal to nil.

In today’s FIFA 2026 World Cup Qualifier matches, Cameroon will take on Cape Verde and Gambia will face Seychelles.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger