South Africa secured their second consecutive victory in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after thrashing Eritrea 5-0 at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Wednesday.
The win took Bafana Bafana to six points at the top of Group D, five points ahead of second-placed Kenya, who are scheduled to face bottom side Guinea in Conakry on Thursday.
Eritrea made a bright start and came close to taking the lead through Ali Sulieman, while another attempt from distance struck the crossbar after a lapse from South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
However, South Africa gradually took control and broke the deadlock in the 19th minute through Relebohile Mofokeng.
The 21-year-old collected a defence-splitting pass from Oswin Appollis before firing past goalkeeper Yonathan Sultan for his first senior international goal.
Mofokeng doubled South Africa’s advantage shortly before half-time, showing good skill inside the box before sending a low effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
The visitors added a third seven minutes after the restart when Yaya Sithole followed up after Sultan had saved another effort from Appollis.
Iqraam Rayners then made it 4-0 in the 63rd minute, finishing with his left foot from a tight angle after being played through by Appollis.
Eritrea threatened to reduce the deficit through Esrom Yohannes and Sulieman, but Williams produced important saves to keep a clean sheet.
South Africa completed the rout in stoppage time when substitute Luther Singh converted Appollis’ third assist of the game to seal a 5-0 victory.
The result leaves South Africa top of Group D with six points from two matches, while the AFCON qualifying campaign resumes in November when Bafana Bafana face Kenya in back-to-back fixtures.
Eritrea will also play Guinea twice in November, while South Africa are scheduled to face Egypt in a friendly in Cairo on Sunday, October 4.
