South Africa will begin their tune-up for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and next year’s Africa Cup of Nations when they face Namibia in an International Friendly, set for the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on the afternoon of Saturday 9 September 2023.

Kick-off is at 3pm CAT.

Bafana Bafana were last in competitive action in June of this year, securing a 2-1 home win over Morocco in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, before a locally-based ‘A’ team participated in the Cosafa Cup in July, where they ended third.

Coach Hugo Broos believes his team has progressed steadily since humbling defeats at the hands of Morocco and France in the first half of 2022.

“Right now, we have that core of players who know what I want and that is very important. They have the right mentality, there is a good mix of old and young,” said the Belgian tactician.

“We still have to be better in the future because in November there are very important difficult games [World Cup qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda] and I don’t speak about Afcon. I know what it is, it’s very tough. So, we still have to increase our level.

“But I think if you compare this team now with the team two years ago. There’s a very big difference on every level. So, I’m very happy now with the quality we have with the level. But we’re still going to work to become better.”

Namibia, meanwhile, completed their Afcon qualification campaign in June with a 3-2 loss away to Burundi – a result which means they will only know for sure whether they will play at the tournament in Ivory Coast next Tuesday, when three-team Group C is completed with a clash between Cameroon and Burundi.

The Brave Warriors were also present at the Cosafa Cup in July, but endured a winless tournament and exited in the group stage, before facing Zimbabwe in an exhibition match in Harare on Monday afternoon which ended in a 2-2 draw (before the hosts won on penalties).

Namibia coach Collin Benjamin has been at the helm of the team for well over a year now and is hoping that consistency becomes a key characteristic as they potentially head toward the next Afcon.

“At last year’s Cosafa, we made it to the final round, and this year we bowed out in the first round. From this experience I learned that we need to do more work, we need to bring consistency into our game, and that we have to work together with our current players and those who have the potential to play for the Braves,” said Benjamin.

In head-to-head stats, South Africa and Namibia have met in 12 previous matches dating back as far as 1998. Bafana Bafana have claimed seven wins compared to two for the Brave Warriors, while three games have been drawn.

The teams’ most recent meeting was in the 2023 edition of the Cosafa Cup, with the match at King Zwelithini Stadium ending in a 1-1 draw after goals from Rowan Human and Elmo Kambindu.