Both Egypt and South Africa recorded 2-1 victories in their opening matches against Zimbabwe and Angola respectively, meaning qualification to the knockout rounds with a game to spare is at stake.
Bafana Bafana have won five of their previous 11 second group fixtures at the finals. That tally includes a 4-0 victory over Namibia at the 2023 edition and a 4-0 loss to Nigeria in 2004, both record scorelines at the continental finals.
Two of those wins came against Angola (1996 and 2013, both on home soil), while another two were recorded against Namibia (2019 and 2023). The only other team they have beaten in a second group match is DR Congo (2000).
They have lost three fixtures at this stage too. Aside from the heavy defeat to Nigeria 21 years ago, they also suffered back-to-back losses to Tunisia in the 2006 and 2008 tournaments.
Those remain the only occasions Bafana Bafana have faced North African opposition in second group matches.
Bafana Bafana have also drawn three times at this stage, against Ivory Coast (1998), Ghana (2002) and Senegal (2015).
Current assistant coach Helman Mkhalele scored a penalty against the Ivory Coast in their 1-1 draw 27 years ago.
It is not a fixture in which they have been prolific scorers. Prior to their 4-0 win over Namibia at the last edition, South Africa had scored only eight goals across 10 second group matches, though they have found the net in every game since a 2-0 loss to Tunisia in 2006.
Conversely, they have kept six clean sheets in those 11 matches, including three in their last four games.
Bafana’s second group games at the AFCON
20/01/96 vs Angola 1-0 (Williams 57’)
11/02/98 vs Ivory Coast 1-1 (Mkhalele 8’ pen)
27/01/00 vs DR Congo 1-0 (Bartlett 44’)
24/02/02 vs Ghana 0-0
31/01/04 vs Nigeria 0-4
26/01/06 vs Tunisia 0-2
27/01/08 vs Tunisia 1-3 (Mphela 86’)
23/01/13 vs Angola 2-0 (Sangweni 30’, Majoro 62’)
23/01/15 vs Senegal 1-1 (Manyisa 47’)
28/06/19 vs Namibia 1-0 (Zungu 68’)
21/01/24 vs Namibia 4-0 (Tau 14’pen, Zwane 25’, 40’, Maseko 75’)