South Africa vs D.R. Congo prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-02-09 20:00.
It has been an incredible journey at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the largely unfancied South Africa, but their dreams of lifting the famous trophy for only the second time ever and the first time this century were dashed in a dramatic penalty shootout defeat against Nigeria. Regardless of what happens here, they have produced their best AFCON performance since finishing third back in 2000, which also came after losing to the Super Eagles in the semi-finals.
South Africa’s journey to this stage has been inspirational as, after a rather middling group-phase campaign which saw them finish second (W1, D1, L1), they went on to knock out pre-tournament favourites Morocco and then Cape Verde. That may be testament to the team chemistry in this set-up, with nine of Bafana Bafana’s matchday squad against Nigeria plying their trade for club side Mamelodi Sundowns.
A 1-0 defeat to hosts Ivory Coast in the semi-finals saw the Democratic Republic of Congo’s impressive run at this AFCON come to an end, but they do still have the opportunity to pick up the bronze medal for the first time since 2015. The Leopards required a penalty shootout and then second-half goals to progress from their two knockout ties prior to their ill-fated semi, so they may have to wait for any possible rewards here.
Such rewards are far from a given, as evidenced by DR Congo’s rather uninspiring all-time H2H record against their South African counterparts (W1, D1, L5). The Central Africans have also lost both previous AFCON H2Hs, though defeat was by a single-goal margin on those two occasions, and perhaps boosting DRC’s hopes will be their 100% winning record in AFCON third-place games (W2) since the country’s name switched from Zaire.
Players to watch: Teboho Mokoena has earned the Flashscore Man of the Match accolade in three of South Africa’s five AFCON encounters at this tournament, netting twice on or beyond the 90th minute in the knockout phase. As for DR Congo, Yoane Wissa has scored two of their six goals at this AFCON, both times getting his team’s opener.
Hot stat: Each of the last four AFCON third-place play-offs finished 1-0 (twice) or went to a penalty shootout (twice).