Nigeria vs South Africa Prediction 07.02.2024

• Competition: Africa Cup of Nations &— Semi-Finals
• Date: Wednesday, 7th, February 2024
• Kickoff: 17:00 UK / 18.00 CET
• Venue: Stade de la Paix (Bouake)

Nigeria, the red-hot favorites, are just one step away from reaching the grand finale of the African Cup of Nations. They will face off against South Africa, the dark horse of the tournament, in the first semifinal at Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Wednesday.

Nigeria vs South Africa Betting Tips: Nigeria to Win

After a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea in the inauguration of the group stage, Nigeria demonstrated an extraordinary comeback by clinching consecutive wins over tournament host Ivory Coast, with a 1-0 victory, and repeating the same score against Guinea. This secured them the second position in Group A.

With the combination of a strong defense and the exceptional leadership of Ademola Lookman, the Super Eagles are on the verge of their seventh major continental final appearance. This is due in large part to the Bergamo striker’s impressive performance, where he first shocked Cameroon with two goals, and then a few days later, eliminated Angola with a crucial goal.

Coach Jose Peseiro is dependent on Napoli’s talisman, Victor Osimhen, to assist his Serie A compatriot as they aim to surpass the semifinal and get a chance to compete for a fourth AFCON crown. This comes as the team remains undefeated in the tournament, having gone four consecutive matches without conceding a goal.

The semifinal match between South Africa and Nigeria in this year’s tournament becomes even more intriguing when considering that the Super Eagles last won the African Cup of Nations in 2013 in South Africa. Now, the West African team aims to duplicate their previous victory over Bafana Bafana, where they triumphed 2-1 in the AFCON 2019 quarterfinal.

Osimhen and his team will need to put in a significant effort to secure their right to compete for the AFCON trophy. This is particularly given that South Africa has already demonstrated its prowess by sensationally eliminating tournament top-seed Morocco in the Round of 16. They achieved this with a stunning 2-0 victory, thanks to goals from Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena.

Hugo Broos’ team is unquestionably more depleted than Nigeria, as they had to withstand an intense 120-minute goalless game, including extra time and penalties, to move beyond Cape Verde in the quarterfinals. This game saw Mamelodi Sundowns’ goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, make history by becoming the first goalkeeper in AFCON to block four penalty kicks. Despite this, Bafana Bafana still comes in more worn out than Nigeria.

Beyond overcoming their challenges within the usual 90-minute span on the road to the semifinals, the Nigerians have also relished an extra day of rest, and adding to that, considering that the Super Eagles have twice bested Bafana Bafana in the knockout stages of the African Cup &— including a comfortable 2-0 triumph in the 2000 semis &— we believe Peseiro’s fresh troops can capitalize on all advantages to secure an AFCON final berth.