Zimbabwe relocate 2026 World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana after NFF protest

By Dayo Awoniyi

Zimbabwe will no longer host their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against South Africa in South Africa, following a successful protest by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The match has been relocated to Rwanda.

The NFF lodged a formal complaint to FIFA, arguing that allowing multiple teams to host matches in South Africa gave Bafana Bafana an undue advantage in Group C of the CAF qualifiers.

South Africa was set to play all of their final four group-stage matches on home soil, as both Lesotho and Zimbabwe had adopted South African venues due to stadium disqualifications in their own countries.

In response to the protest, the Zimbabwe Football Association confirmed on Tuesday that their October home fixture against South Africa will now be played in Rwanda.

Zimbabwe had initially used Rwanda as their base earlier in the campaign but later moved to South Africa, where they held Benin to a 2-2 draw in their last qualifier.

Despite the change, South Africa will still benefit from playing three of their remaining qualifiers at home—against Lesotho, Nigeria, and Rwanda—maintaining a partial home-field advantage in the group.

South Africa currently top Group C with 13 points from six matches, as the race to secure a spot at the 2026 World Cup intensifies.