South Africa will take on DR Congo with a place in both the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semifinals and the U-20 World Cup tournament on the line.

The teams will meet in a quarterfinal showdown at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia on Monday night, with kick-off at 8pm CAT.

Amajita earned their place in the final eight by topping Group A ahead of Sierra Leone, Egypt, Zambia and Tanzania, while DRC finished third in Group C behind Ghana and Senegal.

“Our game against Zambia in the final group stage match, we knew it would be a bit tricky because of the margin of the points,” said South Africa coach Raymond Mdaka after the 1-1 draw on Friday night.

“They wanted a win at all costs, so they had to put in almost everything because the draw wasn’t enough for them, but fortunately, we knew how they played.”

A win in the quarters would secure a semifinal spot and a berth in the U-20 World Cup in Chile later this year.

South Africa are looking to appear at the global tournament for the fifth time overall and first since 2019, while DRC have never appeared at the age group World Cup before.

“It’s good, man, the team is united, we’re all united. We have an objective to fulfil,” said Amajita defender Siviwe Nkwali.

This will be the first competitive meeting of South Africa and DR Congo’s U-20 teams.

The winners will face either Nigeria or Senegal in the first semifinal, set to be played on the late afternoon of Thursday 15 May in Ismailia.