Johannesburg - Cape Town has been under fire for not securing a host city status for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but the Mother City will nevertheless play a role in Bafana Bafana's preparations for the continental showpiece in January.

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South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO Robin Petersen on Tuesday announced that the national football team would play their penultimate Afcon warm-up match at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday, January 8, against the 26th world-ranked Norway.

"This match, at this stadium, will be one of our most important warm-up matches and it's huge for us in the context of the team's preparation," said Petersen.

"After this match Bafana will be off to Johannesburg for their final warm-up match, so the Cape Town clash will be an important confidence booster."

Petersen said Norway's national squad requested the fixture as they would be in Cape Town during the tournament in January.

The city's Executive Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events, and Marketing Grant Pascoe, said he was regretful that Cape Town was not hosting AFCON matches, but he hoped that local fans would feel a measure of compensation when this international friendly took place.

"We were keen to be an AFCON host city, but at the time of negotiations the figures showed that it was not economically viable," said Pascoe.

"But we are pleased to secure this match and hope that Bafana fans will come out in great numbers to show support ahead of the start of AFCON."