South Africa vs Guinea prediction 26.09.2026 | Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers

South Africa secured the World Cup after a really good qualification campaign. They finished 1st, above the African giants, Nigeria. Under Hugo Broos, they played a very defensive style of football, which eventually delivered results. Then, in the World Cup, they managed to come out of the group but were knocked out by one of the co-hosts, Canada, in the 1/16 Finals.

However, coach Broos eventually decided to step down after his five-year contract finished, and the FA appointed Pitso Mosimane. The 62-year-old was already in charge of South Africa; between 2010 and 2012, when they had very little success. 

For the upcoming game against Guinea and Eritrea, the squad will be without two important central defenders, Siyabonga Ngezana and, more importantly, Mbekezeli Mbokazi. Mbokazi was their starting central defender in all four WC games. 

Guinea are #81 on the FIFA World Ranking List. They have never appeared in the World Cup but also did fairly well in the previous three AFCONs, reaching the round of 16 in 2019 and 2021 and then reaching the quarter-finals in the previous tournament. When it comes to the World Cup Qualifiers, they had an OK campaign, finishing 4th with 15 points from ten rounds.

But after the World Cup Qualifiers, they have been really disappointing given the competition they faced. Even though these were only friendlies, we can safely say the results were far from good, and they are entering the AFCON Qualifiers on a pretty bad note.

In recent days, coach Paulo Duarte spoke about the team selection. He hinted that some of the players he called aren't answering his calls. Naby Keita from Ferencváros and Josuha Guilavogui are the most notable absentees from the squad.