Bafana Bafana captain, Ronwen Williams believes South Africa are edging closer to breaking their long-standing winless run against Nigeria.
South Africa and Nigeria are set to clash in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening.
The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper acknowledged the historical dominance of the Super Eagles but insisted that Hugo Broos’ men have shown steady progress in recent meetings.
South Africa held Nigeria to a draw away from home last year and pushed them all the way in the previous Africa Cup of Nations semi-final, before bowing out on penalties.
They have not defeated the Super Eagles since a 2-0 win in the AFCON qualifiers in June 2017.
“That’s the history they have over us—we haven’t beaten them in a very long time,” Williams admitted.
“But we’ve had positive results. Going away to Nigeria last year was so difficult, and to come back with a positive result and play the way we did shows that we’re growing as a team.”
Williams stressed that the team’s improvement is a sign they are getting closer to finally ending Nigeria’s dominance in the rivalry.
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“We saw it at AFCON, and we saw it when we played them away in Nigeria. Hopefully tomorrow we can take it a step further and change the narrative,” he said.
Nigeria trail South Africa in Group C of the qualifiers by six points.
A win for South Africa would take them a big step closer to the World Cup, while Nigeria will need maximum points to keep their qualification hopes alive.
