Nocturnal 
South Africa put five past Eritrea without reply as they continued their push towards the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, finals which are set to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The match, played on Wednesday 30 September 2026 with a 6pm kick-off, was the second round of qualifying fixtures, and it turned into a one-sided affair almost as soon as it got going. South Africa, managed by Pitso Mosimane, were simply too strong for their opponents, racking up five unanswered goals as reported by Foot Mercato, which carried live coverage of the game.
How the goals went in
Relebohile Mofokeng was the star of the show, opening the scoring in the 19th minute before adding a second either right on the stroke of half-time or shortly after the restart, depending on the source. Foot Mercato has his second strike down as a first-half goal in stoppage time, while other reporting lists it as a 47th-minute finish, so the exact timing is unconfirmed, though the fact he scored twice is not in dispute.
Yaya Sithole made it three in the 52nd minute, before Iqraam Rayners got his name on the scoresheet with a fourth just after the hour mark, in the 63rd minute. Luther Singh rounded things off deep into stoppage time, with reports placing his goal in the 90+4 minute, meaning South Africa scored in both halves and kept finding the net right until the final whistle.
The teams on the night
Eritrea, coached by Hesham Yakan, lined up in a cautious 5-4-1 formation, starting with Y. Sultan in goal behind a back five of N. Embaye, N. Tadese, J. Misignha, J. Idris and H. Asmelash. Their midfield four of N. Girmai Netabay, T. Tekie, A. Teklezgi and F. Gerezgiher supported lone striker A. Sulieman, but the setup couldn’t keep South Africa at bay for long.
Mosimane’s South Africa side went with a more attacking 4-2-3-1 shape, fielding R. Williams in goal, a back four of S. Kabini, O. Makhanya, I. Okon and K. Sebelebele, with B. Aubaas and Y. Sithole screening the defence. Ahead of them, O. Appollis, R. Mofokeng and T. Maseko supplied the creativity behind target man I. Rayners, and between them that front line did the bulk of the damage.
Where things stand now
The result means South Africa head into the next round of AFCON qualifying with a big win behind them and plenty of attacking momentum, with Mofokeng’s double likely to catch the eye of Bafana Bafana supporters hoping he can carry that form into future fixtures. Eritrea, by contrast, will have plenty to work on defensively after shipping five goals without reply. As of now, no further qualifying fixtures for either side have been confirmed in the research available, so attention turns to how both nations fare in their remaining group matches as the race for a spot at the 2027 finals continues.
