MATCH STATS: South Africa vs Angola – TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Group B
South Africa and Angola will meet at the Marrakesh Stadium in Marrakesh as they open their Group B campaign at the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 on Monday, with kick-off at 17h00 local time (16h00 GMT).
This will be the fifth meeting between South Africa and Angola at AFCON finals.
Across their previous four meetings, Bafana Bafana have recorded two wins, with the other two matches ending in draws.
All four previous AFCON clashes between the sides have come in the group stages.
On the four occasions when the teams were drawn together in the same group, only one progressed to the knockout stages each time — South Africa in 1996, 1998 and 2013, and Angola in 2008.
They first met at the 1996 AFCON in Johannesburg, where South Africa won 1–0 thanks to Mark Williams’ only goal of the game.
They met again in 1998, playing out a goalless draw in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
A decade later, they drew 1–1 in Tamale, Ghana. Manucho gave Angola the lead in the 29th minute before Elrio van Heerden equalised for South Africa in the 87th minute.
Their most recent AFCON meeting came in 2013, when hosts South Africa won 2–0 on matchday two in Durban, with goals from Siyabonga Sangweni and Lehlohonolo Majoro in the 30th and 62nd minutes.
This will be the third time the nations open an AFCON finals against each other, having also met on matchday one in 1998 and 2008.
This is their first meeting at AFCON in North Africa. They previously met twice with South Africa as hosts (1996 and 2013), while their other two clashes took place in West Africa.
Angola are the second nation South Africa will face for a fifth time at AFCON, along with Morocco.
South Africa are the first country Angola will meet for a fifth time at AFCON — the most times Angola have faced any single opponent at the tournament.
Overall, this is the 20th meeting between the nations. South Africa have nine wins, Angola four, with six of the previous 19 matches ending in draws.
Their last meeting came on 15 June 2025 in the COSAFA Cup final, where Angola won 3–0.
Angola are unbeaten in their last six matches against South Africa, winning three and drawing three.
South Africa’s last victory over Angola came in the second leg of a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying second-round match on 17 November 2015, a 1–0 win.
Head-to-Head Overall
South Africa: P19 W9 D6 L4 GF21 GA19
Angola: P19 W4 D6 L9 GF19 GA21
Head-to-Head AFCON
South Africa: P4 W2 D2 L0 GF4 GA1
Angola: P4 W0 D2 L2 GF1 GA4
Past AFCON Meetings
1996 AFCON, Group A, 20 January 1996
South Africa 1 (Williams 57’) Angola 0
Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa
1998 AFCON, Group C, 8 February 1998
South Africa 0 Angola 0
Stade Municipal, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
2008 AFCON, Group D, 23 January 2008
South Africa 1 (Van Heerden 87’) Angola 1 (Manucho 29’)
Tamale Stadium, Tamale, Ghana
2013 AFCON, Group A, 23 January 2013
South Africa 2 (Sangweni 30’, Majoro 62’) Angola 0
Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa
South Africa – Key Statistics
· Making their 12th AFCON finals appearance
· First qualified in 1996 and won the title on debut as hosts
· Runners-up in 1998; finished third in 2000 and at the 2023 edition
· This is their 51st AFCON finals match (W18 D17 L15, GF55 GA48)
· Have previous positive tournament history in Morocco, with South Africa U20 runners-up in 1997 and the senior women’s team winning WAFCON in 2022
· Have won just three of their 11 opening AFCON matches (1996, 2000, 2004)
· Drew four opening games (1998, 2002, 2008, 2013) and lost four (2006, 2015, 2019, 2023)
· Have failed to win their opening game in their last six AFCON appearances (D2 L4)
· Last opening-game win came in 2004 against Benin (2–0)
· All three opening-game wins have been by two or more goals
· Biggest opening-game win was 3–0 against Cameroon in 1996
· Their last three AFCON matches (all at the 2023 edition) ended in draws, with two decided by penalties
· Last open-play win was a 2–0 victory over Morocco in the round of 16 at the last edition
· Have won just two of their last nine group games (both against Namibia in 2019 and 2023)
· Eliminated in the group stages at Tunisia 2004 and Egypt 2006
· Best North Africa performance came with a quarter-final appearance at Egypt 2019
· Hugo Broos is the first coach to qualify South Africa for two AFCON tournaments
· Broos will lead South Africa at AFCON finals for the second time
· Broos guided Bafana to third place at the 2023 edition
· Broos has never won his opening AFCON match as a coach
· Qualified undefeated (W4 D2), scoring 16 goals and conceding five
· Teboho Mokoena was top scorer in qualifying with three goals
· Oswin Appollis led the qualifiers for assists (4) and chances created (22)
Angola – Key Statistics
· Making their 10th AFCON finals appearance
· First qualified in 1996
· Third appearance at a finals hosted in North Africa (Egypt 2006 and 2019 previously)
· Eliminated at the group stages in both previous North Africa tournaments
· Reached the quarter-finals at the last edition, their third time progressing beyond the group stage
· Have played 31 AFCON finals matches (W7 D13 L11, GF39 GA43)
· Eliminated at the group stages in three successive tournaments (2012, 2013, 2019) before last edition success
· Ended a nine-game winless AFCON run with a 3–2 win over Mauritania at the last edition
· Went unbeaten through their first four matches at the last edition
· Won three successive matches at AFCON for the first time at the last edition
· Scored in four consecutive matches at the last edition before losing to Nigeria in the quarter-finals
· Coach Patrice Beaumelle previously led Côte d’Ivoire at the 2021 AFCON
· Have won just one of their nine AFCON opening matches (D6 L2)
· Only opening-game win came against Burkina Faso in 2012 (2–1)
· Have avoided defeat in their last six AFCON opening games
· Were involved in the famous 4–4 draw with Mali in 2010 after leading 4–0
· Have failed to score in just three opening games in AFCON history
· Qualified undefeated (W4 D2)
· Gaspar and Neblu played every minute of qualifying (540 minutes each)