TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Group B

Southern African neighbors Zimbabwe and South Africa will meet on 29 December at the Grand Stade de Marrakech in their final Group B match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025. Kick-off is at 17h00 local time (16h00 GMT), with both teams harboring hopes of progressing to the round of 16, reports CAFonline.

This will be the first meeting between the two nations at the AFCON finals.

This will be the 20th overall meeting between the sides. Zimbabwe have recorded six wins, South Africa eight victories, with five matches ending in draws.

South Africa have scored 21 goals to Zimbabwe’s 16 across their previous 19 encounters.

For South Africa, this will be their fourth AFCON match against a neighboring country. They previously defeated Namibia in group-stage matches in 1998, 2019 and 2023.

Zimbabwe are facing a neighboring country at AFCON for the first time.

This will be Zimbabwe’s third AFCON match against a Southern African opponent. They lost a group-stage game against Malawi (2–1) in 2021 and drew against Angola at the current edition.

Zimbabwe and South Africa first met in a 1994 AFCON qualifier, with Zimbabwe recording a 4–1 victory on 16 August 1992 in Harare. Neither side qualified for the finals in Tunisia.

The teams have met six times in FIFA World Cup qualifying, with South Africa winning four matches and the other two ending in draws.

They were drawn together in qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with South Africa winning both matches – 2–0 away and 2–1 at home – before going on to qualify for the tournament in Korea/Japan.

In 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Zimbabwe hosted the first meeting, which ended 0–0, before South Africa won the return fixture 2–0 at home. Neither team qualified for Qatar 2022.

The sides most recently met in 2024 FIFA World Cup qualifying. South Africa won 3–1 at home on 11 June 2024, while the return fixture on 10 October 2025, Zimbabwe’s home match played in Durban, ended in a 0–0 draw.

South Africa qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Zimbabwe finished bottom of their qualifying group.

South Africa are unbeaten in their last four matches against Zimbabwe (W2 D2).

Zimbabwe’s last victory over South Africa was a 2–1 win in a friendly international on 10 September 2013 in Johannesburg, when Knowledge Musona and Cuthbert Malajila put the Warriors 2–0 ahead before Bernard Parker scored for South Africa.

A goal for Musona in this match would be his fourth against South Africa, moving him ahead of former South Africa striker Shaun Bartlett and Zimbabwe striker Peter Ndlovu, who have each scored three goals in this fixture.

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS

OVERALL
Zimbabwe: P19 W6 D5 L8 GF16 GA21 GD-5
South Africa: P19 W8 D5 L6 GF21 GA16 GD+5

Zimbabwe – Key Statistics

• Zimbabwe earned their first points of the 2025 AFCON with a 1–1 draw against Angola in their last match.
• They are winless after their opening two matches and have never managed to win either of their first two games at AFCON.
• Zimbabwe’s record in their third group match at AFCON reads P5 W3 D0 L2.
• All of Zimbabwe’s AFCON victories have come on matchday three. In 2004, they recorded their first finals win with a 2–1 victory over Algeria, while in 2006 and 2021 they also won 2–1 against Ghana and Guinea respectively.
• They lost their final group match in 2017, a 4–2 defeat to Tunisia, and again in 2019, losing 4–0 to DR Congo.
• Zimbabwe suffered their heaviest AFCON defeat in their final group match in 2019, a 4–0 loss against DR Congo.
• In 17 AFCON matches, Zimbabwe are yet to keep a clean sheet, the longest run by any team at AFCON without a clean sheet from their first appearance.
• Their matchday three victory over Guinea remains their only win in their last 11 AFCON matches.
• Zimbabwe have scored in both of their matches at AFCON 2025, but have never scored in all three group matches at an AFCON finals.
• They have scored in each of their last four AFCON matches, their longest scoring run at the finals.
• Victory in this match would see Zimbabwe progress to the round of 16 for the first time.
• Knowledge Musona scored in the draw against Angola and is now the second Zimbabwean to score three goals at AFCON, alongside Peter Ndlovu.
• At 35 years old, Musona is Zimbabwe’s oldest goalscorer at the AFCON finals.
• Musona attempted five shots against Angola; across the last four AFCON tournaments, only Khama Billiat (six) has recorded more shots in a single match for Zimbabwe.
• Zimbabwe’s starting XI against Angola had an average age of 30 years and 115 days, their oldest starting lineup across their last four AFCON finals appearances.

South Africa – Key Statistics

• South Africa opened their campaign with a win against Angola before losing 1–0 to Egypt.
• They have won just one of their last five AFCON matches in open play (D3 L1).
• South Africa’s last four group-stage wins at AFCON have all come against COSAFA member nations, with two against Angola and two against Namibia.
• They last won a group-stage match against a team from outside Southern Africa in 2004, defeating Benin in their opening game.
• Their record in final group matches reads P11 W2 D5 L4.
• South Africa are winless in their third group match across the last seven AFCON finals (D4 L3).
• They last won their final group match in a must-win encounter against Morocco in 2002, a 3–1 victory with goals from Siyabonga Nomvethe, Thabo Mngomeni and Sibusiso Zuma.
• Aside from that win against Morocco in 2002, their only other victory in a final group match came against Namibia in 1998, a 4–1 win.
• Benni McCarthy scored all four of South Africa’s goals in the 4–1 win over Namibia in their final group match in 1998.
• They have kept a clean sheet just once in their final group match, a 0–0 draw against Tunisia at the previous edition.
• South Africa have failed to score in their final group match at the last two AFCON editions, losing 1–0 to Morocco in 2019 and drawing 0–0 with Tunisia in 2023.
• A win or a draw in this match will see South Africa progress to the round of 16.
• Should they progress, South Africa would reach the knockout stages for the eighth time, following appearances in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2013, 2019 and 2023.
• In their last four AFCON appearances, South Africa have failed to reach the knockout rounds once, in 2015, while progressing in 2013, 2019 and 2023.
• Progression would see them reach the round of 16 for a third successive edition.
• Should they progress, it would be the second time South Africa have reached the knockout rounds in three consecutive appearances, having previously done so in four successive tournaments between 1996 and 2002.
• Elimination would see South Africa exit at the group stage for a fifth time, following eliminations in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2015.
• Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams featured in his 13th AFCON match against Egypt, the most by a South African goalkeeper, overtaking André Arendse.
• Williams’ next AFCON appearance would see him draw level with Shaun Bartlett on 14 AFCON matches, the fourth most by a South African player, behind John Moshoeu (19), Lucas Radebe (17) and Mark Fish and Helman Mkhalele (both 16).
• South Africa recorded their highest possession figure at AFCON since 2013, with 63.8% against Egypt.
• They attempted 17 shots in the second half against Egypt, their highest tally in either half of an AFCON match across their last five appearances.
• Aubrey Modiba recorded 94 touches against Egypt, the most of any player in the match.
• Teboho Mokoena completed 72 passes against Egypt, the most in the match, from 80 attempts, registering a passing accuracy of 90%.
• Mokoena also attempted four shots against Egypt.
• Mbekezeli Mbokazi attempted six tackles against Egypt and won four of them, with no player winning more tackles in the match.