South Africa vs. Mozambique: COSAFA Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Wednesday will see the first match of the 2025 COSAFA Cup, between host South Africa and Mozambique, at Bloemfontein's Free State Toyota Stadium.

South Africa has won three games, and Mozambique has won one in their six meetings in this tournament, with last year's opening match being their second meeting.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Os Mambas advanced to the knockout stages last year due to a greater goal differential. At the same time, South Africa and Mozambique were both assigned to Group A and finished with identical records of one victory and two draws in their three matches.

However, after that tournament, Bafana Bafana had an incredible streak of eleven matches undefeated in all competitions until their loss to Malawi in the African Nations Championship qualifiers early last month.

During that perfect streak, South Africa not only qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in first place, but they also earned a spot in the next African Cup of Nations.

Notably, Vela Khumalo, head coach of the Kaizer Chiefs Diski Challenge, has been selected as head coach for the next tournament by the South African Football Association. Reneilwe Letsholonyane will be serving as an assistant coach under Khumalo.

Since losing the 2023 COSAFA Cup semi-final to Zambia, the hosts have been superb at home in recent years, going 15 matches without a loss in all competitions.

On the other hand, Mozambique improved upon their 2015 position as runners-up in the COSAFA Cup, topping their group and going on to take third place.

In the time after, Os Mambas qualified for the African Cup of Nations, but they now sit second in their group for the World Cup, three points behind Algeria as they enter the last two rounds of play.

With a record of five victories, two draws, and three losses in their previous ten games since last year's semi-final loss, Chiquinho Conde's squad has struggled since March, when they suffered a 5-1 setback to Les Fennecs.

The international team touched down in South Africa last week and won a friendly match against Eswatini on Saturday. Antonia Sumbane, a midfielder for Black Bulls FC, scored the lone goal in the contest.

South Africa x Mozambique Team News

Bruce Bvuma, Aden McCarthy, Thabo Cele, Mduduzi Shabalala, and Wandile Duba are five Chiefs players that Khumalo has named on his team. This is pretty expected, given Khumalo's relationship with AmaKhosi.

Players from Mamelodi Sundowns, who competed in last Sunday's CAF Champions League final, were not selected for Bafana Bafana's COSAFA Cup team. Boitumelo Radiopane was the only Orlando Pirates player to be chosen.

Elias Pelembe, a winger for UD Songo, was one of the players Conde decided not to include in this year's squad. However, his most significant decision was not to include Edmilson Dove, a defender for Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

Despite calling upon Guebuza, Edson Mucuana, and Keyns Abdala—three players stationed in Portugal—the Mambas' manager has restocked his roster chiefly with players from within the country.

Our Predictions 

South Africa to win @ 2.18 on Sky247.ng

After slipping out of the top ten of CAF area countries in the FIFA rankings, South Africa's football squad has been on a tear over the last two years, culminating in a third-place performance in the most recent Africa Cup of Nations.

Additionally, Bafana Bafana have gone undefeated in their last fifteen home matches in all competitions. We expect them to continue their winning streak in their first COSAFA Cup encounter.

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