With Bafana Bafana's group opponents for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations having been confirmed, a former winner of the tournament has noted how South Africa finds themselves in a very similar group to the one they were in during their triumphant 1996 edition of the competition.
On Monday night, CAF hosted the AFCON 2025 draw in Rabat, Morocco, where 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.
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Bafana Bafana, who finished third at the last AFCON, were placed in Group B alongside record champions Egypt, as well as fellow COSAFA affiliates Angola and Zimbabwe.
While some have already touted the draw as the group of death, ex-Bafana captain Neil Tovey has explained that the group is reminiscent of the one he played in almost 29 years ago.
Speaking after the draw, Tovey told WinWin.com: "It's an interesting group, and what makes this group special is that it's very similar to the group we were in in 1996, when we won the tournament.
"As you remember, South Africa were in a group with Egypt, Cameroon and Angola, so, apart from Cameroon not being in this group as they were in 1996, there are a lot of similarities.
"It's a very tough group. For our neighbours Zimbabwe, as you know, when neighbours are involved, they always perform very well.
"And also Angola, our neighbours as well, very close countries, and then Egypt, the perennial winners, who will have a lot of support because it's in North Africa. So, it will be very tough."
The last time Bafana failed to make it past the group phase was in 2015, and in the two editions they qualified for after that, they finished in the quarter-finals in 2019 and third in 2023.
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By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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