South Africa battle old foe Nigeria in TotalEnergies CAF U20 AFCON semi-final

South Africa and Nigeria meet in a heavyweight encounter at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt 2025 with a semi-final at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia on Thursday (kick-off 6pm local time).

It marks the fourth meeting between at the TotalEnergies CAF U20 AFCON.

In their previous three encounters, Nigeria claimed one victory in open play, South Africa won once on penalties and the other match ended in a draw.

Their first meeting came in the 2009 third-place play-off, where Nigeria secured a 2-1 win. George Maluleka opened the scoring for South Africa in the eighth minute, before Ibrahim Rabiu equalized in the 15th minute and Frank Temile netted the winner just before half-time.

In 2019, the teams met twice – once in the group stage and again in the third-place play-off. Both games ended 0-0, with South Africa winning the play-off 5-3 on penalties to take the bronze medal.

SOUTH AFRICA FACTS

• By reaching the semi-finals, South Africa have secured qualification for the 2025 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Chile, marking their fifth appearance at the global finals.

• It will also be their first U-20 World Cup appearance in South America, having previously featured in editions hosted in Asia (Malaysia and South Korea), Africa (Egypt), and Europe (Poland).

• After a 1-0 opening defeat to hosts Egypt, South Africa have gone unbeaten in four matches (W3 D1). They recorded back-to-back group stage wins against Tanzania (1-0) and Sierra Leone (4-1), drew 1-1 with Zambia and then edged DR Congo 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

• Their three wins at this tournament represent their most in open play at a single edition.

• This is South Africa’s fifth appearance in the semi-finals. They have reached this stage in 1997, 2009, 2017 and 2019, advancing beyond the group stage three times in a row now. On two occasions – 1997 and 2019 – they made the last four after failing to win their opening match.

• In 1997, they lost to Côte d’Ivoire but went on to finish as runners-up; in 2019, a draw with Niger led to a third-place finish.

• South Africa’s semi-final record, including penalty shootouts, reads: P4 W1 L3. Their only win came against Ghana in 1997 (1-1 draw, 4-3 on penalties).

• They have since lost three straight semi-finals: a 4-3 defeat to Ghana in 2009 after trailing 4-1, a 1-0 extra-time loss to hosts Zambia in 2017, and a 1-0 loss to Senegal in 2019 via an own goal by Givemore Khupe. All of South Africa’s semi-final losses have come in open play.

• This will be South Africa’s fourth match at the Suez Canal Stadium in this tournament. They have a perfect record at the venue so far, beating Tanzania 1-0, Sierra Leone 4-1 and DR Congo 1-0.

• Their other two matches – against Egypt (1-0 loss) and Zambia (1-1 draw) – were played at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.

• The win over DR Congo was South Africa’s first knockout victory in open play at the tournament in nine attempts. Their only other knockout wins came via penalties against Ghana in 1997 and Nigeria in 2019.

• They have won both of their shoot-outs at the finals: 4-3 against Ghana in 1997 and 5-3 against Nigeria in 2019.

• South Africa have gone four matches unbeaten (W3 D1) for the first time in the competition's history. They have faced West African opponents in three knockout matches before, winning only once – on penalties against Ghana in 1997. They lost semi-finals to Ghana (2009) and Senegal (2019).

• Thabang Mahlangu scored the winner against DR Congo, his third of the tournament and South Africa’s seventh goal overall. Another goal would make him the first South African to score four goals at the finals since Luther Singh in 2017. Mahlangu is currently the second-highest scorer in the tournament, one behind Sierra Leone’s Momoh Kamara.

• Shakeel April provided the assist for Mahlangu’s goal, taking his tournament tally to three goal involvements (one goal, two assists) – the highest for any South African player.

• South Africa completed 406 of 509 attempted passes in the quarter-final win over DR Congo, achieving a passing accuracy of 79.8%.

• Goalkeeper Fletcher Lowe has made 19 saves – more than any other keeper at the tournament.

NIGERIA FACTS

• Nigeria began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Tunisia, followed by a 0-0 draw with Morocco and a 2-2 draw with Kenya.

• They then beat Senegal on penalties (3-1) after a goalless draw in the quarter-finals. Their only victory in open play came in their opener against Tunisia.

• They have conceded just two goals in four matches – the fewest among the semi-finalists – and kept three clean sheets, tied with Egypt for the most, despite having played one fewer game.

• This is Nigeria’s 17th appearance in the semi-finals. They are aiming for a record-extending 10th final and a first since 2015. They previously reached the final in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2015.

• This is their ninth consecutive semi-final appearance in tournaments they have qualified for.

• Nigeria’s overall semi-final record (including penalty shootouts) is P16 W9 L7. They have lost their last two – against Gambia in 2023 and Mali on penalties in 2019. Their last semi-final win came in 2015 against Ghana. Prior to that, they lost to Egypt in 2013.

• Their current streak of nine consecutive semi-final appearances is their best ever. Their previous best run was six consecutive appearances from 1979 to 1989, during which they won four titles (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989).

• Since 2005, in a run of eight straight semi-final appearances, Nigeria have won four and lost four. In the last four semi-finals they won, they went on to win the title three times – in 2005, 2011, and 2015 – finishing runners-up in 2007.

• When the tournament has been held in North Africa, Nigeria have always reached the semi-finals.

• Nigeria’s record in penalty shoot-outs stands at P4 W2 L2. They beat Morocco in the 2005 semi-finals (2-2, 5-3 on penalties) and Senegal in the current quarter-finals (0-0, 3-1 on penalties).

• Their two shoot-out losses came in 2019 – against Mali in the semi-finals (1-1, lost on penalties) and South Africa in the third-place playoff (0-0, lost on penalties).

• They have managed just three goals en route to the semi-finals – their lowest ever tally to reach this stage. Despite having seven shots on target in their quarter-final against Senegal, they failed to score.

• Goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt made five saves against Senegal – his highest in a single game – and has kept three clean sheets, tied for the most with Egypt’s Abdel Monem Tamer and Zambia’s Levison Banda, both of whom have played an extra game.

• In their last two matches, Nigeria’s opponents registered five shots on target each. The only goals conceded came in the 2-2 draw with Kenya.

• This is Nigeria’s second match at the Suez Canal Stadium, following their quarter-final win over Senegal. Their three group stage matches were played in Cairo.