Nigeria 1-1 South Africa: Bafana Bafana lament terrible trip to face Super Eagles

At the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday night, a thrilling 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier, South Africa's Bafana Bafana overcome travel difficulties to draw 1-1 with Nigeria.

The match between the two bitter rivals was stressful, but coach Hugo Broos' team was up to the task and attacked their West African opponents right away.

Bafana Bafana was the first team to appear on the stadium scoreboard following one of their longest flights to Nigeria, which lasted over 30 hours. Themba Zwane opened the goal in the 29th minute with a lovely pass from Yaya Sithole.

However, the Nigerians were brought back into the match by the hosts' equalizer, Faruq Dele-Bashiru, shortly after the second half began, meaning that South Africa would go home with a point from Nigeria.

Bafana's preparation for their match against rival African opponents was less than ideal due to a variety of logistical issues encountered throughout the journey.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Hugo Broos said, “I have to congratulate my players.

“As you know, or you don’t know, we had a terrible trip to Nigeria.

"We are only in the country at 2 am on Thursday morning. When you see the mentality of the team today you can only be proud.

With four points from the draw, South Africa was tied for fourth place in Group C with Rwanda and Benin. Currently leading the table with five points is Lesotho.

Nigeria, on the other hand, has only three points from as many games.