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.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
