An old hero in the away dugout
There is something odd about wanting Benni McCarthy to lose. For a generation of supporters he was the striker who scored the goals that mattered, and his name still sits at the top of Bafana Bafana’s scoring list. On Friday night he walks out in Soweto as the coach of Kenya, and the home crowd will want his team beaten.
That pull is the heart of this Bafana v Kenya preview, and it is a real one. The football logic is colder. South Africa lead Group D of AFCON 2027 qualifying with six points from two games. Kenya are co-hosts of the finals and already through. Every point Bafana drop on Friday is a point Guinea can use.
SAFA lists the Orlando Amstel Arena as the venue and 18:00 SAST as the kick-off, and says gates open three hours earlier. CAF’s fixture list agrees: 16:00 GMT is 18:00 in Soweto. The return is four days later, in Nairobi.
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Match | South Africa v Kenya, AFCON 2027 qualifier, Group D |
| When | Friday 13 November 2026, 18:00 SAST |
| Where | Orlando Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg |
| Gates open | 15:00 |
| Tickets | R100 for adults, through Ticketpro (SAFA) |
| Return leg | Tuesday 17 November, Nairobi |
| Group D after two rounds | South Africa 6, Guinea 3, Eritrea 1, Kenya 1 |
| TV | Not announced by SAFA when we checked on Thursday morning |
Bafana v Kenya preview: what Mosimane’s 27 tell us
SAFA published Pitso Mosimane’s final squad on 5 November as a graphic in its release. TimesLIVE printed the same 27 names that day.
- Goalkeepers: Ronwen Williams (Sundowns), Sipho Chaine (Pirates), Ricardo Goss (Sundowns)
- Defenders: Aubrey Modiba, Fawaaz Basadien, Thapelo Morena, Thabang Matuludi (all Sundowns), Samukele Kabini (Molde), Olwethu Makhanya (Rangers), Ime Okon (Hannover 96), Lebone Seema (Pirates), Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Chicago Fire)
- Midfielders: Teboho Mokoena, Bathusi Aubaas (both Sundowns), Thalente Mbatha (Pirates), Sphephelo Sithole (Tondela), Brooklyn Poggenpoel (Durban City)
- Forwards: Iqraam Rayners, Cassius Mailula, Tashreeq Matthews, Siyanda Ndlovu (all Sundowns), Oswin Appollis, Tshepang Moremi (both Pirates), Lyle Foster (Houston Dynamo), Puso Dithejane (Chicago Fire), Relebohile Mofokeng (Union Saint-Gilloise), Luther Singh (AEL Limassol)
Count them by club and the shape of Mosimane’s thinking appears. Twelve of the 27 play for Mamelodi Sundowns, five for Orlando Pirates and one, Poggenpoel, for Durban City. Nine are based abroad. There is no Kaizer Chiefs player. And ten are listed as forwards, against five midfielders. Three threads run through it.
The Sundowns core comes in bruised. Williams and Mokoena were picked while still working back to fitness, and SAFA quoted Mosimane calling them “very, very important players” he would wait on until the doctors gave a verdict. Both then returned to Sundowns’ starting line-up in Sunday’s CAF Super Cup at Loftus, a 3-1 defeat by USM Alger, TimesLIVE reported. Our Ronwen Williams page has the captain’s story so far.
Second chances. Lyle Foster, now on loan at Houston Dynamo, was left out of Mosimane’s first camp, the Sowetan notes. Speaking at Milpark on Monday, the coach was warm but blunt: “He’s a top player, but in football, yesterday’s price isn’t today’s price.” The next step is the striker’s own. “It’s not up to me, it’s up to him now.” Mbokazi is back too, having missed the previous camp, according to TimesLIVE and The Citizen.
New faces and a notable absence. Ndlovu was not in the preliminary list of 23 October and earned his place in the final 27, TimesLIVE reports. Themba Zwane is not there. Moremi, who came in for the injured Lebohang Maboe last time, keeps his place.
Team news: what is confirmed, and what is not
The camp has been filling up all week. By SAFA’s account the group met in Johannesburg on Sunday and began work at the Wits ground on Monday, before the overseas contingent had all arrived; Kabini was the last expected, on Tuesday. Two days out, on Wednesday night, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis came to watch, and told SAFA that “we will be at Orlando on Friday night to cheer for the team”.
What nobody official has said is how Williams and Mokoena came through Sunday’s final. By Thursday morning SAFA had announced no withdrawal and no replacement from the 27, and no injury news for Friday. That is the honest position, and we will not fill the gap with a guess.
Mosimane: pressure, respect and an emotional opponent
Mosimane does not pretend this is a quiet week. “If you don’t want pressure, don’t coach Bafana,” he said in comments reported by TimesLIVE on Monday. Nor does he think he has McCarthy worked out. “Just because I know how Benni plays doesn’t mean I have an advantage now,” he said, and he asked the question every coach asks of an old rival: “What if he has changed the plan?”
His bigger worry is mood rather than tactics. “Be very careful when you are playing against an emotional team,” he said, in SAFA’s account of the camp, describing Kenya as a side under some pressure at home.
The Daily Dispatch, citing Kenyan reports, says McCarthy’s own position is under strain after a poor run. Mosimane did not name names, but he did not need to. “If a player or a coach’s future depends on a game, you’ve got to be very, very careful of that,” he said, in the paper’s account. He added: “I don’t live in the space of complacency because I’ve lost many games.”
He was generous about the man across the touchline too, pointing to McCarthy’s spell on the coaching staff at Manchester United and the Champions League medal no other South African owns. More on our Pitso Mosimane page.
Kenya: McCarthy’s squad and the mood in the camp
McCarthy unveiled a final squad of 24 on Friday 6 November, according to The Standard in Nairobi and the Sunday Times. The Star in Kenya lists 25, with Ian Otieno as a fourth goalkeeper. Captain Michael Olunga of Al-Arabi is back, as is defender Eric “Marcelo” Ouma of Rakow Czestochowa. Wrexham’s Zak Vyner is among the new names, and The Standard’s list includes Job Ochieng (Real Sociedad), Amos Wanjala (Valencia) and Ryan Ogam (RFC Liege).
The squad flew out of Nairobi on Tuesday morning, The Star reports. Ogam, the RFC Liege striker, was in no mood to defend. “We cannot go to Johannesburg and sit back. We must take the game to them,” he said as the squad left, in The Star’s report.
McCarthy has been just as direct. “We respect South Africa, but our responsibility is to Kenya,” he said in comments carried by the Sunday Times, adding that he wants his team “to compete, get results and give our supporters something to be proud of.” The paper also carried his line from The Star: “We are not going there merely to participate.”
Kenya have not yet won in Group D. They drew 1-1 with Eritrea in Nairobi and lost 1-0 in Guinea, which leaves them on one point, the same as Eritrea.
Where Friday can be won
Our view: a team that cannot lose its place at the finals is free to take risks, and Ogam’s words suggest Kenya will. That suits Bafana. Relebohile Mofokeng scored twice against Eritrea in Cairo, and runners like him, Appollis and Moremi want grass to run into, not a low block. If Kenya press high, the game should open up late on. If they sit deep instead, Mosimane’s ten forwards are his answer.
The risk sits at the other end. A side playing for its coach can be awkward for an hour, and one set piece can undo a night of control. Mosimane’s warnings are not politeness. They are the plan.
The history, and what is at stake
The record favours Bafana. The two sides have met four times, with three South African wins and a draw, and Kenya won that drawn game on penalties, The National notes. The last two meetings were both South African wins in friendlies: 2-0 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in February 2011, with goals from Davide Somma and Steven Pienaar (Capital FM), and 2-1 in Nairobi in October 2012, when Tokelo Rantie scored and an own goal decided it, the Mail & Guardian reported. Friday is the first meeting in fourteen years.
The stakes are in the table. With Kenya already booked, CAF sends only the best-placed of the other three teams to the finals. Guinea and Eritrea meet on Thursday night and again on Monday, so Bafana will know the pressure before they kick off. Our AFCON 2027 Group D explainer runs through what one, three or six points from Kenya would mean, and our AFCON 2027 qualifiers guide has the campaign so far.
Then it is on to Nairobi on Tuesday. SAFA has not yet published a stadium or a kick-off time for the return, and neither have we.
Frequently asked questions
What time is Bafana v Kenya on Friday?
Kick-off is at 18:00 SAST on Friday 13 November 2026 at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, SAFA confirms. CAF lists the match at 16:00 GMT, the same time. SAFA says the gates open at 15:00.
Who is in the Bafana Bafana squad to face Kenya?
Pitso Mosimane named 27 players on 5 November, led by captain Ronwen Williams. Twelve play for Mamelodi Sundowns, five for Orlando Pirates and nine abroad, including Relebohile Mofokeng and Lyle Foster. Siyanda Ndlovu is a new name, and Themba Zwane is not in the squad.
Who is the Kenya coach?
Benni McCarthy, Bafana Bafana’s all-time leading scorer. He named a final squad of 24 for the double-header, according to The Standard and the Sunday Times, with captain Michael Olunga recalled. The Star in Kenya lists 25.
Where is the second Bafana v Kenya match?
In Nairobi on Tuesday 17 November 2026. SAFA and CAF had not published a stadium for the return leg when we checked on Thursday morning, and SAFA has not given a kick-off time.
Are Kenya already qualified for AFCON 2027?
Yes. Kenya co-host the 2027 finals with Uganda and Tanzania and qualify automatically. They still play every qualifier, and Group D’s other place goes to the best-placed team among South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea, CAF says.