Bafana’s Group B opponents: Angola will be strong competitors at Afcon

Palancas Negras (The Black Sable Antelopes) pose too much threat for Bafana Bafana to be ignored.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos has said as much about the threat of a team he admitted he knew little about until the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) draw was conducted. Bafana open their campaign against Angola in Marrakesh on December 22.

Angola will be full of confidence, arriving in Morocco with a squad that looks to blend much foreign-based experience with emerging talent.

After a failed campaign to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the Angolan FA appointed Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle as their new head coach in late September. He is replacing long-serving Portuguese Pedro Goncalves, who had helped the team qualify for this Afcon during a six-year stint that included two appearances at Afcon finals (2019 and 2023).

How they qualified

The Angolans topped Group F on 14 points, with Sudan (eight points) as runners-up and Niger (seven) in third. Favourites and four-time Afcon winners Ghana shocked with an appalling campaign, finishing last with three points.

Angola really showed their quality as they did not lose a match in six qualifiers, winning four and drawing two, scoring seven goals and conceding two.

Star players

There are plenty of major players with experience in strong clubs in Europe in the 28-man squad named by Beaumelle on December 3.

The forward group has attackers of the quality of Gelson Dala (Al-Wakrah, Qatar), Zito Luvumbo (Cagliari in Italy’s Serie A), M’Bala Nzola (Pisa, Serie A), Mabululu (Al Ahli Tripoli, Libya) and Randy Nteka (Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s LaLiga) to choose from.

Angola’s midfield also looks solid, with Show (Kocaelispor, Turkey), captain Fredy (Turkish second-tier side Bodrum), Maestro (Alanyaspor, Turkey) and Beni Mukendi (Vitória de Guimarães) available.

In defence Beaumelle has tough campaigners in Clinton Mata (Lyon, France), David Carmo (on loan at Real Oviedo in LaLiga from Nottingham Forest), Nurio Fortuna (Volos, Greece), Gaspar (Lecce, Italy) and Jonathan Buatu (Gil Vicente, Spain).

Veteran goalkeeper Hugo Marques, 39, now at Petro de Luanda, will be familiar to South African fans after starring for Cape Town City in 2021. He will compete for the No 1 jersey with Neblu (1° de Agosto) and Dominique (Swiss second-tier side Étoile Carouge).

The coach

Beaumelle is a 47-year-old who worked for a long time as an assistant to countryman Hervé Renard, including when they won the Afcon with Zambia (2012) and Ivory Coast (2015), so he knows the competition well.

The Frenchman has said the 2025 Afcon will be his eighth overall. “I love this competition — it holds a special place in my heart,” he told CafOnline.com a month after his appointment as Angola coach in September.

Within a few months of arriving in Angola, Beaumelle showed his hand with the selection of the Afcon team that left many Angolans puzzled when several notable faces such as Bastos, Gilberto and Andrade were omitted from the final team. These omissions were read as Beaumelle’s strategy to revamp and bring balance to his squad going to Morocco.

Beaumelle and Angola FA have shown how serious they are about the 2025 Afcon by taking the team on a 10-day camp in Portugal from December 8 to December 18.

Key statistics

• Head-to-head with Bafana: These teams have met 20 times since 1996, with Bafana winning 10, drawing seven and losing three. But more crucially, there have been four encounters (1996, 1998, 2008 and 2013) between these sides at Afcon, where Bafana have won two of those while the others ended in draws.
• World ranking: 89
• Africa ranking: 18
• Afcon appearances: nine
• Previous Afcon performance: 1996 (group stage); 1998 (group stage); 2006 (group stage); 2008 (quarterfinals); 2010 (quarterfinals); 2012 (group stage); 2013 (group stage); 2019 (group stage); 2023 (quarterfinals)

Group B fixtures at 2025 Afcon (SA times)

• December 22: vs South Africa, 7pm, Stade de Marrakech
• December 26: vs Zimbabwe, 2.30pm, Stade de Marrakech
• December 29: vs Egypt, 6pm, Stade Adrar, Agadir