Lyle Foster will be hoping for a belated birthday gift in the form of three points when Bafana Bafana face Nigeria in a high-stakes 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.
Fresh off celebrating his birthday in camp, Foster remains unfazed by the looming clash against South Africa’s long-time rivals. Instead, he believes the pressure lies squarely with those chasing Bafana in the group standings.
“I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure on us. I think at the moment we are where we are in the group and that’s a positive,” said Foster. “I think pressure is on the guys who are trying to get to us, but that doesn’t mean we should take our foot off the gas or take our foot off the pedal.
Ahead of South Africa 🆚 Nigeria, Shaun Bartlett shares his perspective on the rivalry.#SSFootball | #WCQ pic.twitter.com/bKgBsNzoqs
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Bafana head into the encounter buoyed by a convincing 3–0 win over Lesotho on Friday night, while Nigeria edged Rwanda 1–0 at home on Saturday.
“I think that we should just have the same mentality still and keep steady, keep playing game by game, staying humble and just like I said, taking the game as it comes. I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure. I think the pressure is on those who are trying to get to us. I think we’ve had a good start, but the most important thing is trying to push forward and make sure that we seal it.”
South Africa currently lead Group C with 16 points from seven matches, while Nigeria sit third with 10 points from the same number of games.