South Africa vs Panama Predictions - Bafana Bafana to secure friendly win over Panama

John Eastwood

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Last updated: 26 Mar 2026

John Eastwood 26 Mar 2026

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South Africa is unbeaten in their last 8 home matches.
Panama remains confident after a strong World Cup qualifying finish.
Predictions favor South Africa with a 2-1 victory in a match expected to exceed 2.5 goals.

Expired

South Africa to get the business done at home (Getty Images)

South Africa vs Panama Predictions

Both sides have similar form coming into this friendly and both will be focused on building towards the FIFA World Cup this year, rather than just the result. However, at home, Bafana Bafana are very good, and I foresee victory for them with the match seeing over 2.5 goals.

South Africa vs Panama Predictions
Head to Head
South Africa Form
Panama Form
South Africa vs Panama Team News & Predicted Lineups

South Africa are unbeaten in their last 8 home matches.
South Africa have scored 3 goals in each of their last 2 home matches.
South Africa have seen over 2.5 goals in 4 of their last 6 matches.
Panama have seen under 2.5 goals in 6 of their last 8 matches.
Panama are winless in their last 2 matches.

Head to Head

Panama beat South Africa back in 2005 on penalties during the CONCACAF Gold Cup. That is their only previous encounter.

South Africa Form

This will be South Africa’s first game since their round of 16 exit at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in early January 2026. While it was a disappointing campaign for Bafana Bafana, they still showed plenty of quality and will now look to produce the goods ahead of the World Cup later this year.

During the group stage of AFCON, South Africa beat Angola 2-1 before going down 1-0 to Egypt in a rather unfortunate result. They closed off the group stage with a 3-2 against Zimbabwe to secure second place and passage through to the knockout games.

Once there, Bafana Bafana fell short, losing 2-1 to Cameroon. After going 2-0 down, South Africa rallied brilliantly, pulled a late goal back and came within inches of leveling the scores just before the final whistle.

Panama Form

Panama will arrive in South Africa in relatively confident mood after a strong end to their World Cup qualifying campaign late in 2025.

Unbeaten in their last six World Cup qualifiers, Panama drew 0-0 against Suriname, 1-1 against Guatemala before beating El Salvador 1-0 away. That was followed by another draw against Suriname and a 3-2 win over Guatemala away from home. Their final game ended in a 3-0 victory against El Salvador at home.

In 2026, Panama have played two friendlies, both in January. They drew 1-1 against Bolivia and lost 1-0 to Mexico at home.

South Africa vs Panama Team News & Predicted Lineups

South Africa: Hugo Broos has been forced into a few changes with Siyabonga Ngezana and Fiacre Ntwari out with injuries. Themba Zwana has been called up. Teboho Mokoena could make his 50th appearance while Lyle Foster will once again be relied upon for goals.

South Africa Predicted Lineup:

Williams; Mudau, Sibisi, Mbokazi; Mudau, Mokoena, Sithole, Adams; Nkota, Hlongwane; Foster

Panama Predicted Lineup:

Mosquera; Miller, Cordoba, Andrade; Murillo, Godoy, Carrasquilla, Davis; Fajardo, Diaz; Waterman