Benin and South Africa will play out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Cote d’Ivoire.
South Africa travel to Abidjan with a two-point advantage over Benin in Group C. They hosted Benin in the first game of their qualifying campaign, way back in November 2023 and won 2-1 in Durban.
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Bafana Bafana have lost only one of their five group games to date, a record matched by Benin. However, South Africa are 3-2 up on Benin in terms of victories.
One concern surrounding South Africa is how their playing style matches up with Benin. Bafana Bafana are a team packed with slight, technical players. Meanwhile, Benin are known for their directness and physicality.
Burnley striker Andreas Hountondji is 6ft 3” tall, but is used as a wide target man for Gernot Rohr’s side. This approach has previously caused problems for South Africa.
Benin are heavily reliant on experienced striker Steve Mounie. The 30-year-old scored in the 2-2 draw in Zimbabwe last week. This takes his career tally to 20 goals in 61 appearances for the Elephants.
Apart from Mounie, only Junior Olaitan has scored more than three goals for his country. This further underlines the team’s reliance on their star striker.
Benin Expected Lineup: Dandjinou, Moumini, Kiki, Roche, Tijani, D’Almeida, Imourane, Hountondji, Olaitan, Dokou, Mounie
South Africa Expected Lineup: Williams; Mudau, Basadien, Ngezana, Sibisi, Mokwana, Mofokeng, Adams, Mokoena, Tau, Foster
Benin have made a strong start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. The Cheetahs currently sit in second place in Group C, just two points behind South Africa.
They have also been in good home form, landing surprise wins over Rwanda and Nigeria respectively.
Many online betting sites now offer competitive odds on Benin continuing their impressive run.
However, the South Africans are a difficult proposition right now and they remain unbeaten in their last 12 competitive games.
South Africa’s Belgian head coach, Hugo Broos, has instilled a never-say-die spirit in Bafana Bafana. They have won seven of their last nine games, including a big win in Egypt, which is why we are backing them to avoid defeat.
Benin are required to play their home games at neutral venues, as CAF has ruled their stadiums to be substandard. This should also play into South Africa’s hands.
We believe backing this contest to have the same number of goals scored in each half is a wise bet. South Africa are in control of their qualifying group and know that avoiding defeat in Benin keeps the Elephants two points behind.
That’s why we think Bafana Bafana will aim to ease themselves into this fixture. They’ll be eager to limit Benin to goalscoring chances, while providing a threat on the counter-attack.
In Benin’s ‘home’ games on neutral soil, they have averaged one goal scored in the first half of games. Meanwhile, South Africa have averaged one goal scored in both halves away from home so far in this WC Qualification group. We expect either team to take a one-goal lead at the interval and the losing side to equalise in the second half.
Both teams have scored in 67% of South Africa’s away games in this campaign. Similarly, 60% of Benin’s ‘home’ games have also featured both teams scoring.
We can currently back both teams to score at a probability of just 44.44%. It’s a statistic that makes this the value play out of all three Benin vs South Africa predictions this week.
Although South Africa are in great shape right now, they still conceded in their big win over Egypt. Meanwhile, Benin managed to score against higher-ranked opponents Nigeria.