Lyle Foster of South Africa during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON match between Egypt and South Africa at the Adrar Stadium, Agadir on the 26 December 2025 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Saturday Dec 27, 2025. 13:00
Regional rivals Zimbabwe and South Africa will have a crunch derby in their final Group B fixture at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, set for the Marrakesh Stadium on the early evening on Monday 29 December.
South Africa, who opened their tournament with a 2-1 win over Angola, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Egypt on Friday evening in Agadir. Mohamed Salah’s penalty decided the game in favour of the North Africans, though Bafana Bafana were left furious at being denied a hand-ball penalty from a VAR review late in the game – having dominated the second half against their 10-man opponents.
“The decisions that were made here today on the pitch have motivated us 200 percent to win the game on Monday against Zimbabwe,” said coach Hugo Broos.
Bafana Bafana need only avoid defeat in this match to secure second place (Egypt will finish top of the log regardless) and book a match in the round of 16 against the runner-up of Group F (one of Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon or Mozambique).
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, bounced back from a 2-1 defeat to Egypt in their tournament opener with a 1-1 draw against Angola in Marrakesh on Friday afternoon. The Warriors found themselves a goal down to Gelson Dala’s strike, but hit back via veteran striker Knowledge Musona, who was restored to the team after missing the game against the Pharaohs.
Zimbabwe must win this match to have any realistic chance of advancing beyond the group stage for the first time in their history.
“We need a win from the last match in order to go through,” explained coach Mario Marinica. “I think we need to have more composure in front of goal and try to take our chances a bit cleaner.”
Overall, South Africa and Zimbabwe have clashed 19 times (including Cosafa Cup games, which would not technically count as ‘A’ level internationals but are an important part of the rivalry) with eight wins for Bafana, six for the Warriors, and five draws (one of which was a Cosafa Cup knockout game which Zimbabwe went on to win via penalties).
South Africa are unbeaten against their neighbours since 2013 and most recently took four points off Zimbabwe in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Broos’s team claimed an emphatic 3-1 win (with a second-half brace from substitute Thapelo Morena deciding the game) in Bloemfontein in June of 2024, before a goalless draw in the return game held in Durban (due to Zimbabwe’s lack of CAF-approved top-tier venues) in October 2025 – results which very much helped Bafana Bafana make a return to the global stage for the first time since 2010.