<\/p>\n
Bafana have made a perfect start to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, defeating Guinea and Eritrea to move to the top of Group D.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The group also includes Kenya, which has already qualified as a tournament co-host. \u201cI think we are very much headed in the right direction,\u201d Okon said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe academies have been doing well over the past few years, bringing players into the setup. I think it\u2019s a true reflection of South African football at the moment, and we can only go up from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SA\u2019s Under-20 national team added to the positive results by winning the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations championship.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Under-23 side also defeated Algeria in a friendly as preparations continued for qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bafana have meanwhile climbed into the top 50 of the FIFA world rankings for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The national team has also entered Africa\u2019s top 10, strengthening confidence following recent progress under former Head Coach Hugo Broos.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pitso Mosimane has since replaced Broos and begun the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign with consecutive victories. \u201cIt\u2019s really motivating,\u201d Okon said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see the teams that are in front of you, and you believe that you can gain more places. It\u2019s very motivating, and we look forward to getting into better positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bafana\u2019s next test will be against Egypt, which is ranked as the third-best national team in Africa.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Okon said the match would give SA an opportunity to measure progress against one of the continent\u2019s strongest teams. \u201cAs we know, Egypt is one of the biggest teams in Africa, and as a player, you always want to play against the best teams and challenge yourself,\u201d Okon said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feeling within the team is excitement. We want to play against Egypt, test ourselves and show what we are about.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Okon said the recent achievements reflected improving youth development and the increasing contribution of football academies to SA\u2019s national teams.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABCSport\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":47193,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-47192","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Bafana Bafana Defender Ime Okon believes South Africa (SA) football is on an upward trajectory following encouraging performances across several national teams.","published_date":"","news_description":"Bafana Bafana Defender Ime Okon believes South Africa (SA) football is on an upward trajectory following encouraging performances across several national teams.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47194,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47192\/revisions\/47194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}