Bafana Bafana will play Namibia and Zambia as they look to fine tune before resuming competitive action.
Molefi Ntseki’s men have not taken to the field in 2020, with the Afcon and Fifa World Cup qualifiers suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Bafana Bafana return
On Wednesday, the South African Football Association (Safa) confirmed that the men’s senior national team will play two friendly matches in October.
They will travel to Namibia on 8 October, where they will take on their neighbours at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.
The second friendly is a home fixture against Zambia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on 13 October.
Bafana Bafana set to meet Zambia in Rustenburg https://t.co/gTBUMN4xNs
— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) September 16, 2020
Qualifiers loom
Also on the horizon is the resumption of 2021 Afcon qualifiers, which resume with back-to-back fixtures against Sao Tome e Principe.
The first of the two qualifiers takes place at FNB Stadium on 13 November , before the two sides meet once more on the island three days later.
Bafana’s next competitive engagement is another home fixture at FNB Stadium, this time against Ghana on 25 March 2021, before they conclude their campaign away to Sudan in Khartoum.
South Africa are second in Group C, having lost their opening match away to the Black Stars before registering victory at home to Sudan.
Also on the agenda is the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, which begin in May 2021.
There, South Africa will renew rivalries with Ghana, with neighbours Zimbabwe and Ethiopia rounding up Group G.
Only group winners will progress to a preliminary round, where ten African teams will be battling it out for the five spots in Qatar.
Bafana last qualified for the World Cup in 2002, when they ran through the qualifiers unbeaten. Since then, their only other appearance in the global showpiece event came in 2010, when South Africa hosted the prestigious tournament.
