AFCON 2015: Head to head statistics: Algeria vs South Africa

Head to head
-Algeria have met South Africa three (3) times in all competitions.

-The Desert Foxes of Algeria are yet to beat the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.

-South Africa have won one (1) and drawn two (2) of their encounters against Algeria

-The last meeting between these two sides came in January 2013 and ended in a goalless draw

Performance in previous African Cup of Nations
Algeria
- The Desert Foxes have played in fifteen (15) AFCON tournaments and their best performance was winning the championship in 1990 when they hosted it. They walloped Nigeria in the opening game by five goals to nil before they edged them in the final by a goal to nil to win their only continental title.

-They failed to qualify from their group in the 2013 AFCON staged in South Africa.

-Algeria have poor record in their opening games, having won only three (3) of their fifteen (15) games, losing six (6) and drawing six (6).

-The last time Algeria won their opening AFCON game was way back in 1990 when they thrashed Nigeria, but their best afterwards has been a draw. They have lost five (5) of their last eight (8) AFCON opening games, with the other three (3) ending in draws.

South Africa
-The Bafana Bafana have made eight (8) appearances in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON)

-They won the championship in 1996 on home soil beating Tunisia by two goals to nothing in the final.

-South Africa hosted the last edition of the AFCON in 2013, topping their group, but they were knocked out by Mali in the quarter finals through a penalty shootout.

- South Africa have lost only one (1) of their eight (8) opening games in the African Cup of Nations, winning three (3) and drawing four (4)

-South Africa in their last three (3) away games have failed to manage a win, losing one (1) and drawing two (2)

Current form
Algeria
-The Desert Foxes are ranked 18 on the current FIFA ranking and are number in Africa.

-They had a very good FIFA World campaign, making the knockout stage for the very first time in their history, but lost at the round of 16 to Germany the eventual winners of the 2014 World Cup during the extra time of play.

-In the qualification for the 2015 AFCON, they won their first 5 games, before finally losing the 6th game to Mali at a point they had already qualified.

-They have won 5 of their last 7 games, losing 1 and drawing 1.

-Their last game was a one all draw against Tunisia

South Africa
-The Bafana Bafana are rated 52 on the FIFA raking
-They topped group 'A' of the AFCON qualifiers which had the defending champions of the AFCON, Nigeria, winning three (3) games and drawing three (3)

-South Africa have gone eleven (11) matches without a defeat, winning six (6) and drawing six (6). They last lost a game against Brazil in March 2014.

Star players
Algeria
The two main danger men in the Algerian team are Sofiane Feghouli, who plays for Valencia. He is the schemer of the team and his contribution in the 2014 FIFA World Cup was enormous and Yacine Brahimi, who plays his club football for Porto. His good season was rewarded when he was voted the BBC African footballer of the year 2014.

Other players like Raïs M'Bolhi in post, Islam Slimani in attack, with Djamel Mesbah in defence are equally.

South Africa
-The danger man of the South Africa team is Tokelo Rantie who plays for Bournemouth in England. He was the scorer of the Bafana Bafana with 4 goals in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers.

- Sibusiso Vilakazi, who plays for Bidvest Wits in South Africa is equally good with so much talent.

Note: The South Africans don't have plenty of big name footballers, but Mashaba has built a formidable side with the core of his team being locally based players.