Preview: South Africa vs Panama - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides in search of their first victories of 2026 will square off in a friendly on Friday as South Africa host Panama at Moses Mabhiba Stadium in Durban.

Each are World Cup-bound, though the Bafana Bafana lost their only previous match this year, 2-1 versus Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Panama were beaten 1-0 by Mexico in a January friendly.

Match preview

After over two months away, South Africa enter the final stretch before the 2026 finals seeking to fine-tune their overall form.

Despite exiting the previous AFCON tournament in the last 16, they put together a solid overall showing, narrowly losing to Cameroon and Egypt.

Those defeats are the only ones this team have incurred since August 2025, while they topped Group C of African qualifying, finishing a point above Nigeria.

This summer will mark their first appearance in the finals since becoming the first African nation to host the event in 2010, as they open the competition by facing Mexico, just as they did 16 years ago.

Hugo Broos has seen his side go unbeaten in eight successive international games in South Africa, drawing their last match played in Durban versus Zimbabwe last October (0-0).

Friday will mark the second time they face the Panamanians, with the Bafana Bafana losing to them on penalties in their previous meeting at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

It went down to the wire, but in the end, Panama came through when they needed it most, earning an automatic place in the World Cup for the second time.

Thomas Christiansen’s men went unbeaten in the third round of CONCACAF qualifying, winning their final two outings by a combined margin of 6-2.

Their goalscoring form has dried up this year, netting just once in two games, though they have conceded a goal or fewer in both instances.

Since the start of 2025, this team have not lost an international affair in normal time when netting the opening goal, though they had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their first game of 2026 when doing so.

Meanwhile, they are unbeaten after 90 minutes in their previous nine encounters that were played outside of Panama, with that last such win coming in Guatemala last November (3-2).

Los Canaleros have not beaten a team outside of CONCACAF since a 2-1 friendly win over Bolivia, while losing their previous match versus African opposition, 2-1 to Tunisia at the 2018 World Cup.

South Africa International Friendlies form:

South Africa form (all competitions):

Panama International Friendlies form:

Panama form (all competitions):

Team News

Broos omitted Siyabonga Ngezana from the squad as he is recovering from a meniscus issue, while Themba Zwane was called up despite a knock, though Fiacre Ntwari has been ruled out as he rehabilitates from a shoulder problem.

Teboho Mokoena can reach the half-century mark for caps with the senior squad on Friday, while Lyle Foster and Zwane are their top goalscorer selected for this window, with the latter one away from moving into a three-way tie for eighth all-time for the national team.

On the Panamanian side, Edward Cedeno was left off the squad after hurting his tendon in January, though Jose Cordoba and Adalberto Carrasquilla are back from the injury front.

Ismael Diaz and Jose Fajardo are each one goal away from moving into a tie for sixth all-time for this program, while Edgar Joel Barcenas can reach 100 caps for Los Canaleros should he see the field for this one.

South Africa possible starting lineup:

Williams; Mudau, Sibisi, Mbokazi; Mudau, Mokoena, Sithole, Adams; Nkota, Hlongwane; Foster

Panama possible starting lineup:

Mosquera; Miller, Cordoba, Andrade; Murillo, Godoy, Carrasquilla, Davis; Fajardo, Diaz; Waterman

We say: South Africa 0-0 Panama

With the World Cup fast approaching, neither side want another devastating injury to a key player, which is why we expect a cagey affair between the two on Friday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.