1 August 2025 – Bafana Bafana will host their highly anticipated 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Nigeria at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein next month.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) can confirm that coach Hugo Broos’ charges will welcome the Super Eagles to the Bloemfontein venue at 18h00 on Tuesday, 9 September 2025 just a few days after facing Lesotho in an away 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the same stadium on Friday, 5 September 2025. The kickoff in the away match against Lesotho is also at 18h00 and the Lesotho Football Association told www.safa.net that they will communicate details around tickets at a later stage.
Tickets to the Bafana Bafana vs Nigeria showdown will open in three phases from R70.00 for adults and R40.00 for children under 12 years old.
Phase One is available ONLY at the Free State Stadium from Saturday, 2 August 2025 as follows:
– Saturday – 08h00 – 14h00
– Sunday – 09h00 – 14h00
– Daily – 08h30 – 16h30
Phase Two will open nationally on Saturday, 9 August 2025 at all Ticketpro Outlets at R100.00
Phase Three will open on Saturday 16 August 2025 at R150.00 for the Grand Stand area. This will include Spar, SuperSpar, Postnet and the Shell, BP and SASOL garages among others.

Bafana Bafana are top of Group C in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with 13 points after six matches and they are followed by second-placed Rwanda and Benin, who are both on eight points. The Nigerians are fourth with seven points followed by Lesotho (six points) and Zimbabwe (four points).
South African Football: The team has seen several coaching changes due to performance-related issues.

Swedish Pixie
Ireland is a proud participant in the annual Six Nations Championship, a prestigious tournament that features top European rugby nations, including England, France, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. Throughout the history of the competition, Ireland has claimed numerous titles, showcasing their prowess and passion for the sport.
Queen Ginger
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?