The Bafana Bafana of South Africa nearly defeated AFCON 2023 host country Ivory Coast toninght in a friendly game in Abidjan but had to share spoils as Sebastien Haller bragged the equalizer in the second half for the Elephants.

Hugo Broos’ side has been dominant in the first half and showed a good football with Themba Zwane combining in-between the lines with Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Mayembela.

The Mamelodi Sundowns star found the back of the net inside 9 minutes of play to reward Bafana Bafana for their impressive start to the game.

Read more : Ivory Coast vs South Africa line-ups

The rest of the first stanza has been dominated by South Africa but they missed efficiency in the final third to score a potential second goal.

With that goal not coming, Ivory Coast levelled up in the second hlaf with Hamde Traore Junior, Max Alain Gradel and Oumar Diakhite coming off the bench to change things around for their team.

The Elephants managed to score the equalizer in the 66th through Sebastien Haller who beat Ronwen William with a huge header.

The game ended in a 1-1 scoreline and both sides closed up their October international break with 2 draws each.