Teboho Mokoena spoke with calm assurance, the kind that suggests a team clear about its past and confident in its direction.
“The talk in the camp is that we need to do better than we did in the last AFCON,” the South Africa midfielder said ahead of Sunday’s Round of 16 meeting with Cameroon. “We know it will be a tough game, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Those words reflect the mood in the Bafana Bafana camp as they prepare for one of the most compelling ties of the last 16 at the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
On Sunday, January 4, at Rabat’s Al Medina Stadium, South Africa face Cameroon in a clash shaped by history, context and contrasting journeys.
For South Africa, this match is about forward movement.
Under Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana are building an identity with AFCON success in mind, while keeping one eye on the longer road to the 2026 World Cup.
Mokoena’s message points to a squad determined to raise its level and move beyond recent limits.
Cameroon arrive with questions still hanging over them. The five-time champions were rocked weeks before the tournament when federation president Samuel Eto’o dismissed head coach Marc Brys, handing the team to David Pagou on the eve of AFCON.
It has left the Indomitable Lions searching for stability, with their own technical staff admitting the squad is still a work in progress.
History, however, gives this meeting added edge. South Africa and Cameroon have faced each other only once at AFCON, in the opening game of the 1996 tournament.
That night at Soccer City, the hosts won 3–0, a result that launched Bafana Bafana’s famous run to their only continental title.
Overall, the numbers quietly favour South Africa. In nine meetings, Bafana Bafana have three wins to Cameroon’s one, with five draws.
Cameroon’s lone victory came in a 1992 friendly, and they have failed to beat South Africa in seven matches since.
There is also a personal twist on the South African bench. Broos, now leading Bafana Bafana, is the same coach who guided Cameroon to the AFCON title in 2017.
His Cameroon side drew twice with South Africa during that qualification campaign. Alongside him will be assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, part of the squad that delivered the memorable 1996 win.
Everything points to another tight contest, the last three meetings between the sides have ended in draws and once again, the outcome in Rabat is likely to come down to fine margins.
