The Zimbabwe senior men's national football team held its first training session in Durban on Monday afternoon ahead of Friday's FIFA World Cup Qualifier against South Africa at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The session included both locally based and South Africa-based players, who make up the majority of the squad. Team captain Marvellous Nakamba, who plies his trade in England, joined camp later in the evening, while other European-based players are expected to arrive on Tuesday morning.

The clash carries more than just qualification hopes; national pride and regional bragging rights are also at stake in this long-standing rivalry.

Zimbabwe, who sit bottom of Group C with four points, are already out of contention for World Cup qualification, while South Africa remain in the hunt, sitting second with 13 points, nine ahead of the Warriors.

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana have suffered a major setback after key player Relebohile Mofokeng was ruled out due to injury.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, South Africa coach Hugo Broos confirmed that Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mduduzi Shabalala has been called up as Mofokeng's replacement.

"We replaced him with Shabalala. Second, there are two players who have not arrived because they played yesterday , that's (Lyle) Foster and (Sphephelo) Sithole. They will arrive tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, and in the afternoon, we will be complete," said Broos.