Tuesday | June 11, 2024

The 2026 FIFA (Federation of International Football Association) World Cup qualification encounters are getting incredibly intriguing.

South Africa (SA) is in a hunt for a win over Zimbabwe at Free State Stadium in Mangaung, Free State Province, tonight.

The kickoff of this all important Group C clash is at 18h00.

There are six participating countries in this group. Currently, SA lies 4th after three matches. A victory will see them improve their position.

Of course, the group standings depend on what happens in the other tie between Lesotho and Rwanda. This draw is scheduled to start concurrently (with SA-Zimbabwe fixture) at Moses Mabhida in Durban, South Africa.

For a record, Lesotho plays its World Cup qualification games in SA.

Featured in this group are Benin who defeated Nigeria 2-1 in Ivory Coast’s Felix-Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan yesterday, June 10, 2024.

As a result, Benin holds a 7-point lead in Group C at the back of its four fixtures played so far. Lesotho is 2nd with five points. Meanwhile Rwanda accumulated four points, the same number of points as SA; however, the former is 3rd on the table.

Therefore, tonight’s fixtures bear permutations which may affect the standings at the end of these two games.

Nigeria occupies the 5th spot from their four matches while Zimbabwe lies 6th with basically two points on the trot from three fixtures.

Zimbabweans need a victory also against South Africa to keep their 2026 World Cup hopes alive. Tonight’s encounter is vital for them. In the same vein, SA have an upper hand playing at home after Saturday’s travel from Nigeria where they secured a critical point.