South Africa vs Benin Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 16/11/2023, 17:55  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 18/11/2023 at 00:00 in World Cup Prediction

South Africa will get their CAF World Cup qualifiers underway this week when they play host to Benin on Saturday afternoon. This is both teams’ first match in Group C, which also features Nigeria, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. Hugo Broos has made a solid start to life in charge of the South African national team. His side come into this competition off the back of a 1-1 draw against Ivory Coast last month. That result took them to five matches unbeaten, including two wins and three draws. Notably, Bafana Bafana kept four clean sheets in that time. The hosts also had a solid run in the AFCON qualifiers earlier this year. They held off Liberia to finish second in a group of three and also managed a 2-1 home win over Morocco in the competition. South Africa have only lost once in their last 16 games in all competitions and are unbeaten in their last three on home soil. Bookmakers have them down as the favourites in this one. 

Meanwhile, Benin are also under new leadership, with former Nigeria international coach Gernot Rohr now at the helm. However, the new manager will have lots of work to do over the upcoming months if they hope to challenge for qualification. The Cheetahs were beaten 2-1 by Madagascar in their last match. That result extended their recent winless run to four matches, including two losses and two draws. They did claim a 3-0 win over Rwanda during AFCON qualification, but that was the only victory they have managed in their last 11 matches. Benin have also failed to win any of their last three away games. These sides last met way back in the 2004 AFCON qualifiers, and South Africa won the match 2-0.