Nigeria vs South Africa prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-02-06 17:00.
Itās a case of āhere we go againā for Nigeria, who have reached the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-finals for a record 15th time. Itās not always been a stage thatās treated the Nigerians well though, as five of their last six appearances in the last four at AFCON have actually ended in defeat – the one exception being in 2013 when they went on to lift the trophy.
South Africa were the hosts in that year, and itās South Africa providing the opposition here, a nation who Nigeria havenāt been able to get the better of in recent times (W1, D4, L1). That record will have to tip in someoneās favour here, and on the back of four successive wins āto nilā at this tournament, itās difficult to look past the Super Eagles as they flock to BouakĆ© for the first time in this AFCON so far.
That left them with a near 450 km trip from their quarter-final venue of Abidjan, and while South Africa had a much less taxing 110 km journey, they had to endure extra time and penalties to squeeze past Cape Verde in their last eight tie. Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the hero behind the victory, as he became the first shot stopper in AFCON history to save four penalties in a single shootout.
His heroics secured Bafana Bafana a first AFCON semi-finals appearance in 24 years, although theyāll be hoping to go one better than they did that year when they fell at that stage. Ominously, it was the Nigerians who beat them in the last four then (2-0), but hopes ought to be high of avoiding a repeat here given, like their counterparts, they too are on a run of four clean sheets at this tournament, suggesting this clash could well be a cagey, tense affair.
Players to watch: Usually an unlikely source of goals, Nigeriaās William Troost-Ekong does have one to his name at this AFCON already and he also netted the winner last time these two sides met in 2019. South Africaās Teboho Mokoena will be keen to have a say too, potentially a late one, given four of his five goals have served as the last of the game.
Hot stat: Only one of South Africaās last ten AFCON games at the finals saw both teams score.