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Cape Town — The price for South Africa of their damaging away World Cup qualifying defeat to the minnow Cape Verde Islands is the sudden shaping of their group into a truly “up for grabs” characteristic.

In short, it is a very tight quartet — also featuring Group D leaders Burkina Faso, and Senegal — at the midway point of hostilities, with all of them now in the running for the coveted lone spot at the top that will guarantee onward passage to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Thanks to their shock 2-1 triumph over Bafana Bafana, even the 114th FIFA-ranked islanders have entered the radar as (still unlikely, admittedly) winners of the group.

The three points they picked up — their first from three outings — leaves them only two short of Burkina Faso, who have five, with Senegal and South Africa in second and third respectively on four points each but separated by goal difference. That could quickly change, of course, if Bafana pull themselves together at short notice by avenging the fiasco at Moses Mabhida Stadium  today against the same foes they were outwitted by in Praia, the little Atlantic Ocean capital of the islands with a population well inside 150 000.

Group D fixtures:

Today: South Africa v Cape Verde Islands (Durban), Burkina Faso v Senegal (Ouagadougou)
October 7: South Africa v Burkina Faso (Johannesburg), Cape Verde Islands v Senegal (Praia)
November 6: Burkina Faso v Cape Verde Islands (Ouagadougou), Senegal v South Africa (Dakar) — Sport24.