South African players in the EPL

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 28: Stuart Baxter (Bafana Bafana Coach) during the South Africa national mens soccer team press conference at Southern Sun, OR Tambo Airport on August 28, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

Afcon 2019: How Bafana Bafana can qualify

A raft of injuries might have set back Stuart Baxter’s team but Bafana Bafana remain well-placed to score a spot at AFCON 2019.

South African players in the EPL

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 28: Stuart Baxter (Bafana Bafana Coach) during the South Africa national mens soccer team press conference at Southern Sun, OR Tambo Airport on August 28, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

A raft of injuries might have set back Stuart Baxter’s team but Bafana Bafana remain well-placed to score a spot at AFCON 2019.

Read: Results, fixtures and latest standings from the 2019 Afcon qualifers

A victory away from home against Nigeria got South Africa’s campaign to reach the continental showpiece off to the best possible start way back in June of 2017. Bafana squandered an opportunity to take control of qualifying group E when they stumbled to a goalless draw with group leaders Libya at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in September.

In the coming days Bafana will be presented with the opportunity to assume pole position seal progression to the tournament proper in Cameroon.

South Africa will face the Seychelles in their next two qualifying matches and a brace of victories will guarantee they maintain a position in the top two spots on the group table. The first of those clashes takes place on 13 October at Soccer city with the second following soon after on 16 October at the Stade Linité in Victoria in the Seychelles.

READ: Shaun Bartlett joins technical team ahead of Afcon qualifiers

Libya and Nigeria clash home and away on the same days with the knowledge that Bafana could put one of them out of contention if they win both matches against a team that have thus far been the groups whipping boys.

Both Libya and Nigeria comfortably put away the Seychelles in their first two matches putting eight goals past islanders who managed just a single consolation goal across 180 minutes.

Bafana might be able to get away with some dropped points but it would be far from ideal to head into return fixtures against Libya and Nigeria under pressure to secure victory. If there is any danger of complacency Bafana should be reminded of their slip-ups against Cape Verde in the World Cup qualifying campaign. In September of 2017 Bafana’s World Cup dream hit the rocks with a brace of 2-1 defeats to lowly Cape Verde having found themselves at the head of the table before those losses and the decision to force a replay of their match against Senegal.

The penultimate round of group matches will be played on16 November when Bafana host Nigeria and Libya visit the Seychelles. The group concludes in March 2019 when the Seychelles touch down in Nigeria and South Africa meet Libya at a venue yet to be determined.

If South Africa put away the Seychelles twice this month they will need just one more win to seal qualification from their final two games. Most importantly wins over the minnows will allow Baxter’s men to keep their fate in their own hands heading into the tougher contests.

How the group shapes up

Standings provided by Sofascore LiveScore

Remaining Afcon 2019 Qualifying Group E fixtures:

13 October 2018 South Africa v Seychelles
13 October 2018 Nigeria v Libya
16 October 2018 Seychelles v South Africa
16 October 2018 Libya v Nigeria
16 November 2018 South Africa v Nigeria
16 November 2018 Seychelles v Libya
22 March 2019 Libya v South Africa
22 March 2019 Nigeria v Seychelles