Baxter: Every WC qualifier vital for Bafana

Cape Town - Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter admitted that every 2018 World Cup qualifier is vital for his team and is aiming for a win against Cape Verde.

Baxter's side arrived in Praia, Cape Verde on Tuesday evening ahead of their crucial Group D qualifier at the National Stadium on Friday.

Bafana will be expecting to pick up a full-house of six points against their opponents - who they will face in a "return" fixture - at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban next Tuesday.

In the latest FIFA rankings, South Africa find themselves in 66th place, while Cape Verde are a lowly 114th.

The winner of each CAF group will automatically book their place for the 2018 World Cup set to take place in Russia.

The former SuperSport United coach warned against paying too much attention to other Group D results and instead encouraged his team to focus solely on Friday's clash.

"I think every game now in World Cup qualifiers is important and if you look at this game isolated, it's a game that we think we have a good chance of winning," Baxter said.

"So we're not going to go for a point, we're going to go for a win. In terms of what it means for the group, you never know in terms of the other results.

"You can tend to overemphasise the importance of this fixture and then if you don't get a result you look at the other one[result] and might realise you're still in the picture.

"We have to concentrate 100% on the here and now, this is the only game on the planet for us and we have to come away with the three points, then we can see the implications that it has for us.

"If we win this and then only take a point at home, then we throw it away so every game is vital now.

"We just need to be here and now, super present and make sure we bite off this next challenge which is Cape Verde."

Kick-off is at 20:30 SA time.