South African football fans will see two of the country’s best-known coaches face each other when Bafana Bafana take on Kenya in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month. Pitso Mosimane, back in charge of the national team, will come up against Benni McCarthy, who is coaching the Harambee Stars. The first match is on Friday, 13 November at Orlando Amstel Arena, with the return leg four days later in Nairobi.

The two men have history on the touchline. When Mosimane was coach of Mamelodi Sundowns and McCarthy was in charge of Cape Town City, their teams met eight times between 2017 and 2019. Mosimane’s side won four of those matches, McCarthy’s men won three, and one ended in a draw. The results were close throughout. Sundowns beat Cape Town City 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup, but City knocked them out of the MTN8 on penalties after winning the first leg 1-0 and losing the second 1-0. In the league, Sundowns won 3-2 at home before losing 2-1 away, and their last meeting finished 1-1.

Mosimane has started his second spell with Bafana strongly, winning his first three games in charge. South Africa sit top of their qualifying group after beating Guinea 2-1 and thrashing Eritrea 5-0. He has already named a 38-man preliminary squad for the Kenya games, with the final list expected next week. Kenya have already qualified for the 2027 tournament as co-hosts, so they will play with less pressure, but Mosimane has warned that McCarthy will not make it easy. The Bafana coach has described McCarthy as a fighter who has a big heart for the game and will not allow South Africa to win comfortably.

McCarthy’s time in charge of Kenya has not been smooth. He has faced work permit problems and criticism from fans after comments about the quality of the players available to him. Some supporters have even called for him to be replaced. Even so, the meeting between the two former players gives the qualifiers extra interest. South Africa are favourites to take points from the double-header, but the past record between the coaches shows the matches could be tight.

The games will decide a lot for Bafana’s hopes of reaching the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. Mosimane knows the next two matches against McCarthy’s Kenya side are important, and he has made it clear that his team still has work to do. Fans can expect two competitive matches as the former rivals meet again, this time with national teams.

Source: https://x.com/KickOffMagazine/status/2115761444486619472