Football: South Africa to face Ghana in final warm-up fixture ahead of AFCON 2025
Bafana Bafana to face Black Stars as part of AFCON preparations
After securing qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, South Africa are now fully focused on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which we will be covering in our in-depth AFCON 2025 predictions throughout the tournament in Morocco over the coming weeks.
Hugo Broos was one of the first head coaches to confirm his squad for the continental showpiece, and with the vast majority of his players being locally based, the Belgian tactician has been able to begin preparations earlier than many of his counterparts.
It has now been confirmed that the South African Football Association (SAFA) has secured a friendly fixture against Ghana on December 16 in Gauteng. This will serve as Bafana Bafana’s final prep match before jetting off to Morocco for AFCON 2025, and you can follow along via our football livescore tool.
Given that the South African national team had already secured their World Cup qualification before the November international break, they used that time to participate in a friendly against Zambia in Gqeberha, which they won 3-1.
For Ghana, this will afford them an opportunity to bed in new players as they build toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup after shockingly failing to qualify for AFCON 2025 by finishing bottom of their qualification group behind Angola, Sudan and Niger.
Ghana name 20-man squad for South Africa friendly
While the upcoming fixture against South Africa is listed as a friendly, matches between these familiar foes are rarely contested as such, with the two nations having faced off in several heated and high-stakes clashes in the past.
In 15 previous encounters, there is very little to separate these nations, with South Africa winning five games to Ghana's four, while four matches have ended level. South Africa will be out for revenge, though, as it was Ghana that ended their 2022 World Cup hopes in their last meeting.
Owing to leagues across Europe still being in full swing, the Black Stars’ head coach, Kassim Mingle, has opted for a squad comprised exclusively of locally-based players, meaning the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Mohammed Kudus, and Mohammed Salisu will not feature in this friendly.
Ghana squad vs. South Africa:
Goalkeepers: Felix Kyei (Medeama), Lawrence Osei (Heart of Lions)
Defenders: Ebenezer Abban (Heart of Lions), Isaac Afful (Samartex), Abdul Aziz (Swedru All Blacks), Samuel Osei Kuffour (Nations), Kamaradini Mamudu (Medeama), Ali Mohammed (Hearts of Oak), Razak Simpson (Nations)
Midfielders: Salim Adams (Medeama), Nana Kusi Asante (Vision), Etse Dogli (Heart of Lions), Prince Owusu (Medeama)
Forwards: Emmanuel Abban (Bechem United), Emmanuel Annor (Nations), Samuel Atta Kumi (Goldstars), Emmanuel Marfo (Aduana), Rudolf Mensah (Swedru All Blacks), Kelvin Nkrumah (Medeama), Seidu Suraj (Dreams)
