South Africa vs Angola Prediction: An entertaining goal promising match

Angola will play South Africa in a friendly match at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday, looking for their sixth straight win across all competitions. The host Bafana Bafana will be out for revenge after losing to the visitors twice already this year in the Africa Nations Championship.

On Thursday, South Africa beat Mozambique 2-1 after falling behind in the first half. This was the first time they had won three straight games since November 2021. Minnesota United's Bongokuhle Hlongwane put up a solid second-half effort, scoring twice in three minutes to turn the game around after his team fell behind to Nelson Divrassone's 14th-minute opener. Since losing their opening match against Morocco by a 2-1 in June, South Africa has been working hard to prepare for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. On Sunday, they will face Angola, a squad they haven't lost to in 16 of the 19 matches between the teams since 1996, so they'll be confident in their chances of continuing their winning streak.

Angola kept their winning streak alive with a 1-0 victory over Botswana on Thursday, their first friendly since drawing 0-0 with Equatorial Guinea in March. Cristovao Paciencia scored the game-winning goal for the host side, Al-Ittihad Alexandria, right before halftime in a tight matchup at the Dobsonville Stadium. This resulted in a loss for Mogomotsi Mpote's team. Consistent with their stellar performance in the 2022 Africa Nations Championship qualifiers earlier this year, in which they went 4-for-4 to secure their spot in the tournament proper, this result was a resounding success. After opening their CHAN qualification campaign with a 2-0 win over Mauritius on July 24, Pedro Goncalves' squad advanced to face South Africa in a playoff match by defeating Les Dodos 1-0 in the second leg a week later. After beating the Bafana Bafana 2-0 at home in the first leg on August 28 and 4-1 at the Orlando Stadium a week later, Angola advanced to the CHAN for the fourth time overall and for the first time since 2018. With 10 goals scored in their previous five matches, the Palancas Negras have been dominant all across the field. However, they have been especially strong defensively, conceding only once in four clean sheets. Angola, ranked 119th, enters the weekend having won eight of their last ten matches and drawn twice in their last four since the start of the new year. 

Angola and South Africa have been in good form in their most recent matches, making for entertaining viewing. While we expect a close match, we think the Bafana Bafana have enough firepower to win and snap a two-game losing streak against the visitors.