Africa Cup Qualifier, Friday, 06.09.2024 at 18:00
International break – and so soon after the start of the season in Europe’s top leagues! Various international competitions require our attention, so I’m now looking to the African region.
Qualifying for the next Africa Cup in Morocco in December 2025 is about to begin. Duels from the David versus Goliath category await. In my South Africa Uganda betting tip, I’ll be looking at just such a match and telling you why there aren’t likely to be too many goals here
The Africa Cup first caused a stir in January and February of this year. It’s been a good six months now, and as they say? Before the tournament is after the tournament, the qualifiers are starting again!
Of course, the South African team is aiming to play in the next Africa Cup. They didn’t do too badly in 2024, even winning the bronze medal in the end. How did they do it? With a lot of drama.
This tip brings me odds of 2.45 at Interwetten Germany
After only four points from the preliminary round (0:2 against Mali, 4:0 against Namibia and 0:0 against Tunisia), the team had reached the knockout round and completely surprisingly won 2:0 against Morocco.
This was followed by a 2:1 win against Cape Verde on penalties and an elimination in the semi-finals against Nigeria. How? With 2:4 after a penalty shoot-out. The match for third place resulted in a 6-5 win against DR Congo – from the spot, as usual!
The score was 0-0 against both Cape Verde and DR Congo, so there wasn’t much to be happy about offensively. The one goal against Nigeria? It was scored from the spot, so again, hardly anything was possible from play.
It’s actually a bit of a miracle that you can get so far up the pitch with so little goal threat. Although I must also mention at this point: Away from the Africa Cup, the attack has been a bit stronger.
1:1 against Andorra and Nigeria, 3:3 against Algeria and 3:1 against Zimbabwe, it works! It almost seems as if the offensive harmlessness is related to the Africa Cup, so we can eagerly wait to see if this also includes qualification.
Uganda are not exactly an opponent that South Africa have faced particularly often in recent years. In 2021, the two nations faced off in the form of a test match, with the favorites winning 3:2.
The other two matches from 2004 and 2005 are of course no longer meaningful, but for the sake of completeness: these two matches also went to the South Africans by a one-goal margin.
So it’s no surprise that Bafana Bafana are the favourites on Friday, with the odds from our bookmakers averaging 1.35 to 8.00. Uganda, ranked number 95 in the world, are certainly aware of their underdog role.
How did the Africa Cup end at the start of the year? Not at all, as the nation had not even managed to qualify for the competition. So Uganda played test matches against Kuwait, Comoros and Ghana.
The results: 2:0 against Kuwait, 0:4 against Comoros and a respectable 2:2 against Ghana, so they could not have been more different. In June, the qualifiers for the upcoming World Cup were calling:
Here the team first won 1:0 against Botswana before losing a close 2:1 against Algeria. In that respect, I have to say: a narrow defeat against Algeria isn’t that bad
Of course, the squad is not full of stars, and that is certainly an understatement. Players worth half a million (or even more)? There aren’t any far and wide! Although 20 players play abroad, there are only a few with international first division experience, such as the injured Uche Ikpeazu (St. Johnstone), Bevis Mugabi (Anorthosis Famagusta) and Timothy Dennis Awany (FC Ashdod).
Is South Africa really vastly superior to the team from Uganda? If we look at the odds for this match, I can only answer this question with a clear “yes”.
But beware, Bafana Bafana are known for close results, and it’s not for nothing that they went to penalties three times in the Africa Cup at the start of the year. Sometimes many goals, sometimes fewer, South Africa definitely has two faces.
Since the underdogs from Uganda kept up very well in their recent 2-1 draw against Algeria, I don’t think South Africa will pull off an unchallenged win here, perhaps even a resounding victory, so I’m betting on them:
The 2.5 goals will not be scored!
