Bafana Bafana of South Africa striker, Lebo Mothiba, has tipped Côte d’Ivoire as a big candidate for the 2023 AFCON.
Mothiba said this in a press conference ahead of today’s (Tuesday) international friendly game between Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa in Abidjan.
Both teams are using the friendly game to prepare for next month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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Côte d’Ivoire are in Group A at the 2023 AFCON with Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
For South Africa, they are also in the Eagles’ group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Aside the three-time AFCON winners, South Africa will play Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Benin Republic.
“As we all know Ivory Coast is a very big team with very good players, most of them they play in Europe,” Mothiba said.
“It’s going to be a very good game for us and good test for us because Ivory a candidate to win the AFCON next year.“
The 27-year-old Strasbourg striker added:”So it’s a very good test for us to see where we are, what we need to improve.”
