South Africa national soccer team

South Africa

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Bafana Bafana (Boys Boys or Go Boys Go Boys)
Association	South African Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	COSAFA (Southern Africa)
Head coach	Gordon Igesund
Captain	Itumeleng Khune
Most caps	Aaron Mokoena (107)
Top scorer	Benni McCarthy (32)
Home stadium	FNB Stadium
FIFA code	RSA
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	56
Highest	16 (August 1996)
Lowest	124 (December 1992)
First international
Ireland 1–2 South Africa (Belfast, Ireland; 24 September 1924)
Biggest win
Australia 0–8 South Africa (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955)
Biggest defeat
Australia 5–1 South Africa (Newcastle, Australia; 7 June 1947) Mexico 4–0 South Africa (Los Angeles, USA; 6 October 1993) Nigeria 4–0 South Africa (Lagos, Nigeria; 10 October 1992) United States 4–0 South Africa (Washington, USA; 3 June 2000) Nigeria 4–0 South Africa (Monastir, Tunisia; 31 January 2004)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1998)
Best result	Group Stage; 1998, 2002, 2010
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	7 (first in 1996)
Best result	Winners, 1996
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2005)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 2005
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1997)
Best result	4th place, 2009

The South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is FNB Stadium, so named due to a naming rights deal, in Johannesburg. The team's current head coach is Gordon Igesund. They returned to the world stage in 1992, after years of being banned from FIFA due to the apartheid system. In 2010, South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup when it hosted the 19th FIFA World Cup in June and July 2010. The team's Siphiwe Tshabalala was also the first person to score in this World Cup during the opening game against Mexico. Despite defeating France 2–1 in their final game of the Group Stage, they failed to progress from the first round of the tournament. In failing to proceed, they became the first host nation to exit in the group stage. They however performed better than other African teams who were representing the continent except for Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Interestingly, while South Africa automatically had a position in the World Cup final as hosts and therefore did not need to qualify, they did participate in the qualifying process as this doubled-up as qualification for the African Cup of Nations in 2010. As it transpired, 'Bafana Bafana' failed to get past the first round of qualification and as such missed out on a Nations Cup berth, meaning they would not have qualified for the World Cup if they were not the host nation.

South Africa hosted the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009. The team's highest achievement was winning the African Cup of Nations at home in 1996, a tournament they also participated in the qualifying rounds for despite being the host nation, although they were selected as hosts after their qualification began, forcing them to withdraw.

History

Pre-1992

Football first arrived in South Africa through colonialism in the late nineteenth century, as the game was popular among British soldiers. From the earliest days of the sport in South Africa until the end of apartheid, organised football was affected by the country's system of racial segregation. The all-white Football Association of South Africa (FASA), was formed in 1892, while the South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA), the South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) were founded in 1903, 1933 and 1936 respectively.

South Africa was one of four African nations to attend FIFA's 1953 congress, at which the four demanded, and won, representation on the FIFA executive committee. Thus the four nations (South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan) founded the Confederation of African Football in 1956, and the South African representative, Fred Fell, sat at the first meeting as a founding member. It soon became clear however that South Africa's constitution prohibited racially mixed teams from competitive sport and so they could only send either an all-black side or an all-white side to the planned 1957 African Cup of Nations. This was unacceptable to the other members of the Confederation and South Africa were disqualified from the competition, however some sources say that they withdrew voluntarily.

At the second CAF conference in 1958 South Africa were formally expelled from CAF. The all-white (FASA) were admitted to FIFA in the same year, but in August 1960 it was given an ultimatum of one year to fall in line with the non-discriminatory regulations of FIFA. On 26 September 1961 at the annual FIFA conference, the South African association was formally suspended from FIFA. Sir Stanley Rous, president of The Football Association of England and a champion of South Africa's FIFA membership, was elected FIFA President a few days later. Rous was adamant that sport, and FIFA in particular, should not embroil itself in political matters and against fierce opposition he continued to resist attempts to expel South Africa from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in January 1963 after a visit to South Africa by Rous in order to investigate the state of football in the country.

Rous declared that if the suspension were not lifted, football there would be discontinued, possibly to the point of no recovery. The next annual conference of FIFA in October 1964 took place in Tokyo and was attended by a larger contingent of representatives from African and Asian associations and here the suspension of South Africa's membership was re-imposed. In 1976, after the Soweto uprising, they were formally expelled from FIFA.

In 1991, when the apartheid system was beginning to be demolished, a new multi-racial South African Football Association was formed, and admitted to FIFA – and thus finally allowing South Africa to enter the qualifying stages for subsequent World Cups.

Readmission

1992 to 1994

After spending nearly two decades in international isolation, the South African national team played its first game on 7 July 1992, beating Cameroon 1–0 at Kings Park in Durban.

The team entered the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and was placed in Group 5, along with Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They won one game, away to Mauritius, and drew to Mauritius and Zimbabwe at home. The team finished third in the group and failed to qualify.

For the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers South Africa was placed in Group D, along with Congo, Libya and Nigeria. Libya withdrew from the qualifiers. South Africa beat Congo home and away. They drew to Nigeria at home and lost away. South Africa finished second in the group, and failed to qualify for the next stage of the qualifiers.

Rise

1996 to 1998

In 1996, a mere 5 years after readmission, South Africa achieved their finest moment when they hosted (and won) the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, in the process reaching the lofty heights of 16th in the FIFA rankings. The shock firing of Cup of Nations winning coach Clive Barker did little to slow momentum as they followed their 1996 success with a second-placed finish at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations under Jomo Sono and earned their first appearance at the FIFA World Cup, qualifying for France '98. Under head coach Philippe Troussier, South Africa suffered a heavy 3–0 defeat to hosts France in their World Cup debut, but played credibly against other group opponents Denmark and Asian juggernaughts Saudi Arabia, earning 1–1 and 2–2 draws respectively on their way to an early exit.

Peak and coaching instability

2000 to 2002

Following their successful 1996 and 1998 Africa Cup of Nations' campaigns and their World Cup debut in 1998, South Africa were seen as a growing power on the continent. Under the coaching of the newly hired Trott Moloto they would start the decade off strongly, finishing third in the 2000 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, but as was increasingly symptomatic of football in South Africa at the national level, yet another coaching change was made. Portuguese Carlos Queiroz was hired as the man to take South Africa to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. South Africa qualified for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations and were eliminated in the quarter-finals against hosts Mali. In the run-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, for which South Africa had easily qualified for as winners of Group E, Carlos Quieroz left his post as head coach amid increasing behind-the-scenes political wrangling.

Former legend Jomo Sono was brought back in a caretaker capacity to lead South Africa in Korea/Japan. Placed in Group B along with Spain, Paraguay and debutants Slovenia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Africa had high hopes of progressing to the knockout phase of the tournament. After earning a 2–2 draw against Paraguay in their opening game with a last-gasp penalty from Quinton Fortune and following it up with their first every victory at the finals with a 1–0 win over Slovenia, South Africa headed into their final game against Spain second in the group and 3 points clear of Paraguay and Slovenia. In arguably the game of the group, in which 5 goals were scored inside the hour, South Africa twice came from a goal down in an agonising 3–2 defeat to the Spanish. In the other game, which kicked-off at the same time as the South Africa-Spain game, Paraguay found themselves beating Slovenia 2–1 but the result was not enough for Paraguay to surpass South Africa in the standings as South Africa's goal difference of zero was superior to Paraguay's minus one. But South African hearts would be broken. With 84 minutes gone in the Slovenia-Paraguay game Nelson Cuevas bagged a vital third goal for Paraguay, giving Paraguay a 3–1 victory over Slovenia. The win left both Paraguay and South Africa level on 4 points with the late Cuevas strike against Slovenia lifting Paraguay's goal difference to zero, level with South Africa's. The deciding factor moved onto a third tiebreaker; goals scored, and as Paraguay had scored six goals to South Africa's five, they progressed to the Round of 16 at the expense of South Africa. What made the early exit all the more heartbreaking was that South Africa was the only team in the group that managed to hold its own against run away group winners Spain, as both Slovenia and Paraguay were comfortably cast aside 3–1 by the Spanish.

This era (1996–2002) of rising football prowess saw South Africa blessed with fine footballers such as record-setting goalscorers Benni McCarthy & Shaun Bartlett, defensive hardmen and inspirational captains Lucas Radebe & Neil Tovey, creative maestros John Moshoeu & Doctor Khumalo and defensive stalwart Mark Fish.

Decline and coaching roundabout

2002 to 2006

In the period following the 2002 World Cup and leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, South Africa would go through 4 head coaches; Ephraim Mashaba (2002–2003), April Phumo (2004). Stuart Baxter (2004–2005), Ted Dumitru (2005–2006) and caretaker Pitso Mosimane (2006). Neither coach was able to match the successes seen in the period 1996–2002 as South Africa failed to progress beyond the group stages in either of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations or 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, failing to register a single goal in the latter. Above all though, South Africa failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After being placed in Group 2 for qualifying, South Africa were beaten to Germany by Ghana. Following poor performances in both the 2004 and 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, rumours circulated that SAFA had been attempting to attract a high profile international manager to coach Bafana Bafana and that former England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson had been targeted. This rumour however has been denied.

Hosting the World Cup

2007 to 2010

South Africa vs Uruguay at the 2010 FIFA World Cup

By failing to register a single goal at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and by missing out on Germany 2006, local supporters had become increasingly unhappy with the decline in performance of the national team. In light of these poor performances it was decided that the hiring of a more experienced manager was essential. Former World Cup-winner and Brazilian national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was approached for the job and he accepted. He signed a R100 million contract covering four years. His term as manager started 1 January 2007 targeting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which South Africa had been awarded the right to host, becoming the first African nation to ever host world football's showpiece.

Under Parreira, with his rich history of success at the international level, South Africa was expected to improve, but early signs were not good as they would exit the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations at the first hurdle once again. To make matters worse, Parreira stood down as coach in April 2008 due to family reasons. Joel Santana was hand-picked by Parreira to succeed him and he was signed to coach the team until 2010. Under Santana South Africa would slide into its darkest period in international football since readmission. Failing to even qualify for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations with football characterised by a complete lack of creativity and little goal-scoring threat, South Africa tumbled down the FIFA rankings and was at one point not even ranked among Africa's top-10 nations. Santana was fired in 2009 and Parreira would return in time for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup – also hosted by South Africa – and South Africa would see an improvement in performance, holding its own against eventual world champions Spain and perennial powerhouse Brazil, the latter requiring an 88th minute goal to overcome South Africa in the semi-finals. South Africa would ultimately finish 4th, following a thrilling 3–2 loss to the Spanish in the 3rd/4th Place Playoff.

A string of victories, albeit against marginal opposition, in the run up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup seemed to instill a sense of confidence in the team as well as the nation. For the 2010 World Cup, the first in Africa, South Africa was placed in Group A, along with Mexico, surprise package and eventual semi-finalists Uruguay and former world champions France. South Africa opened the tournament with a 1–1 draw against Mexico after taking the lead through a wonderful long-range Siphiwe Tshabalala strike. Katlego Mphela would hit the post late into the game as South Africa, buoyed by a frenzied home crowd, so very nearly opened the tournament with a win. A heavy 3–0 defeat in the second group game against Uruguay and a Mexican win over France left South Africa with a mountain to climb in order to progress beyond the group stage. For the deciding match against France, Parreira would discard his previous tactics of a defensive-minded five-man midfield and a lone forward in favour of a more attacking formation utilising two forwards, as up until the France game South Africa had focused more on not losing than they did on trying to win, but the heavy defeat against Uruguay coupled with Mexico's victory over France had now left them with a goal difference of negative three that needed to be overcome in order for them to progress. South Africa would also require a favour from Uruguay, needing the Uruguayans to inflict a sizeable defeat on Mexico to aid their chances of progress. The change in tactics worked as South Africa gained the upper-hand over the French, attacking at will. At the half South Africa had a 2–0 lead thanks to goals from Bongani Khumalo & Katlego Mphela while Uruguay were beating Mexico 1–0 in the other group game. As it stood, South Africa needed at least one more goal against France while Uruguay needed to double their lead against Mexico. Sadly, it was not to be as while South Africa did secure an historic victory over France, they failed to score again and conceded a late goal for a 2–1 victory while the Uruguayans had failed to add to their lead, as they ran out 1–0 victors over Mexico. For the second World Cup in a row South Africa finished level on points with second place but were eliminated, this time on goal difference while it had been on goals scored in 2002. Elimination in the group stage made South Africa the first hosts to fail to progress beyond the first round of a World Cup.

South Africa-France Starting Lineups 2010-06-22

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Uruguay	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7
Mexico	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
South Africa	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	4
France	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Following the conclusion of the World Cup and the expiration of his contract, Carlos Alberto Parreira announced his retirement from coaching. As part of his contract, Parreira had also drawn up a plan of recommendations extending as far as football development at grass-roots level that SAFA was encouraged to review in the hopes of reviving the fortunes of the national football team. Pitso Mosimane, who had been Parreira's assistant, was selected as the new head coach with Parreira's blessings.

Continued struggles

2012 Africa Cup of Nations

South Africa failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals after the rules were misread. They ultimately played for and achieved a draw at home in Nelspruit against Sierra Leone in a game they needed to win, when news about Niger trailing in Egypt was received, leading to the qualification of Niger at their and also Sierra Leone expense. They then celebrated at the end as if they had qualified making it the second time they will be so embarrassed in 4 years after qualifying as a lucky 3rd and last best runners-up for the 2008 edition with Zambia catapulting over South Africa as Group winners after a 3–1 win in Cape Town – and thereby gaining an automatic qualifying ticket on head to head record with the South Africans erroneously thinking goal difference will be the primary tie-breaker.

The SABC also announced that the team had qualified and the SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani then congratulated the team on TV before realisation dawned. SAFA said they would appeal to CAF but the appeal was later withdrawn.

2012

South Africa continued to disappoint into 2012, opening the year with a lacklustre 0–0 draw away to 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts Equatorial Guinea. This would be the start of a run that would see Bafana Bafana rack up 6 successive draws to start the year. The run of draws included 1–1, 0–0 and 1–1 draws at home to African champions Zambia, Ghana and Senegal respectively in International Friendlies. Following a 1–1 draw at home to Ethiopia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier, head coach Pitso Mosimane was fired. The draw increased South Africa's streak to 7 games without a win. Mosimane was replaced as head coach by Steve Komphela on an interim basis while SAFA interviews potential candidates to fill the post on a permanent basis.

In his first game in-charge as interim head coach, Komphela oversaw yet another uninspired performance in South Africa's second World Cup qualifier against Botswana as they drew yet again, extending their winless run to 8 games. Bafana Bafana finally tasted victory when they defeated Gabon 3–0 at home in a friendly, ending their winless streak.

Komphela, along with Gordon Igesund, Gavin Hunt, Neil Tovey and Ephraim Shakes Mashaba had been shortlisted as one of the candidates to be the next head coach of South Africa, with Komphela and Igesund emerging as the front-runners in recent weeks. On 30 June 2012, Gordon Igesund was appointed as the new head coach.

2013 Africa Cup of nations

Main article: 2013 Africa Cup of Nations

Following the crisis in Libya throughout 2011, CAF made the decision to move the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations from Libya – who were the original hosts – to South Africa on the grounds of safety and security. Libya was then given the right to host the 2017 edition of the tournament, which was originally awarded to South Africa. As hosts of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa will automatically qualify for the competition.

South Africa, as hosts, were seeded and drawn in Group A along with Angola, Morocco and tournament debutants Cape Verde.

South Africa kicked the tournament off on 19 January against debutants Cape Verde at a wet National Stadium. South Africa made use of a defensive formation as coach Gordon Igesund deployed two deep midfielders in Kagisho Dikgacoi and Reneilwe Letsholonyane and along with the poor weather conditions delivered an unispired performance resulting in a 0-0 draw. In the hosts second group game against Angola, coach Igesund dropped his midfield pairing of Dikgacoi and Letsholonyane and opted for a new midfield pairing of the defensive minded Dean Furman and the more attacking May Mahlangu. The result was a far more confident display as Dean Furman took control of the midfield - something that was lacking in the first game - and delivered a man of the match performance. South Africa ran out winners with goals from Siyabonga Sangweni and Lehlohonolo Majoro setting up a 2-0 victory. Heading into the final group game against Morocco South Africa only had to avoid defeat in order to progress to the knocout stages while Morocco needed a win to progress. South Africa put in a woeful first half performance that saw them 1-0 down at half time and struggling with the Moroccans direct approach. It was only thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, who pulled of a string of stunning saves, that South Africa were not further behind. An improved second half saw South Africa fight back with an equaliser from May Mahlangu but South Africa continued to look vulnerable against Morocco's direct approach and subsequently fell behind again in the 81st minute. But typical of their improved tenacity in the second half South Africa swiftly responded through a Siyabonga Sangweni equaliser in the 86th minute. South Africa hung on to the draw, with the result enough to see them win group A and progress to the quarterfinals. Sangweni's late equaliser would prove vital as an injury time winner by Cape Verde in their final game against Angola would have seen Morocco and Cape Verde progress at the expense of South Africa, but as it was South Africa went through along with Cape Verde, who enjoyed a stunning debut in Africa's showpiece tournament.

South Africa were drawn against Group B runners-up Mali in the quarterfinals. South Africa delivered a stunning first half performance, playing at a high tempo to negate the Malian's superior physical presence. Unable to keep up with the pace of the game, Mali were overwhelmed as South Africa carved out chance after chance, finally making the breakthrough in the 31st minute as Thuso Phala drove into the box and fired a low cross across the goalmouth which an open Tokelo Rantie pounced on. South Africa headed into the break 1-0 up. However, in the second half, led by veteran midfielder and captain Seydou Keita, the Malians began to impose themselves and equalised in the 58th minute amid a momentary defensive collapse as the South African defense allowed captain Keita to head home an unchallenged cross. From that point on it was Mali that controlled the game. Neither side was able to secure a winner and the game headed into extra time. After another goalless 30 minutes the game moved to penalties. Siphiwe Tshabalala took the first penalty and gave South Africa the lead with a stunnigly placed shot into the top left corner. Cheick Diabaté would swiftly respond. Then South Africa's tournament would unravel. Dean Furman was next up for South Africa but he had his poor low shot to the left easily saved by goalkeeper Soumbeïla Diakité. Adama Tamboura would score Mali's second penalty handing them the advantage. In an almost carbon copy of Furman's penalty May Mahlangu's penalty was also easily saved low to the left by goalkeeper Diakité. Mahamane Traoré confidently dispatched Mali's third penalty, handing them a comfortable 3-1 cushion. Lehlohonolo Majoro was next up for South Africa but the pressure was too much as he fired a wild shot high and to the right of the goal. With that miss South Africa were eliminated from the tournament 3-1 on penalties.

After a poor 2012 in which South Africa had performed poorly and had steadily slid down FIFA's rankings, their performance in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations was a marked improvement. Although coach Gordon Igesund had been handed the almost impossible task of a semifinal berth as a target in his contract, SAFA had come out and said the signs of improvement were sufficient enough for Igesund's job to remain safe.

2014 FIFA World Cup

South Africa received a First Round bye when the qualifying process for the 2014 FIFA World Cup got underway on 30 July 2011. For the Second Round of the qualifying process, South Africa was placed in Pot 1 as a top-seeded nation for the draw from where they were drawn into Group A, along with neighbours Botswana, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia. South Africa opened their qualifying campaign with a dismal performance, struggling to overcome a one-goal deficit in a 1–1 home draw with Ethiopia, a nation ranked nearly 70 places below them. This result, coupled with the less than inspiring string of results that had seen South Africa winless in the past 6 outings that preceded it, resulted in the sacking of head coach Pitso Mosimane. Under interim head coach Steve Khompela, South Africa played out to yet another uninspiring 1–1 draw, this time away to Botswana. On 30 June 2012, Gordon Igesund was appointed as the new head coach.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ethiopia	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
South Africa	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5
Central African Republic	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2	3
Botswana	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Nickname

"Bafana Bafana" is a nickname given to the national side by its fans, it is Zulu and translates as "the boys, the boys". Its actual meaning [to those who understand Zulu deeply]'Go boys! Go boys!' Others take the double use of Bafana to mean "All of the Boys", the team and management as well as the spectators, togetherness as in African Ubuntu.

In July 1992, at Kingspark stadium in Durban fans shouted 'Bafana bafana' which means 'Go boys go boys' when South Africa was on the verge to beat Cameroon and also after the game then a group of three journalists from South Africa newspaper, The Sowetan, began to use the name in print media when referring to the team. The name was used informally, as SAFA felt that the name was not commercially viable, and that it was degrading to refer to a team of men as boys.

Standton Woodrush Ltd applied for a patent of the name in 1993. The name was patented granted, however it was for clothing only. In 1994, the team's technical sponsor at the time, Kappa, applied for the trademarks to the names "Bafana" and "Bafana Bafana" in class 25. These rights were granted, and subsequently passed on to SAFA. In 1997, SAFA filed for the trademark "Bafana Bafana" for all goods and services, in all classes.

SAFA then applied to have Standton Woodrush Ltd removed from the Trade Marks register, on the grounds that SAFA was the rightful owner of the name. The case was dismissed on the ground that SAFA was not an interested person within the meaning of this term as used in the Trade Marks Act No. 94 of 1993, which provides that only an interested party has legal standing to seek relief.

SAFA made another application to gain ownership of the trade mark, with the second application going to the Appeal Court. The court again found that SAFA did not have the grounds to ownership of the name in all classes. The court held that an intention to use a mark does not create a preference to registration, and that the proprietor of a trade mark need not be its originator.

In 2011 SAFA paid R5 million to Standton Woodrush Ltd. This allowed SAFA to own the rights to the name "Bafana Bafana" in class 25, and all other classes.

Home stadium

First game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa vs Mexico at Soccer City.

The South Africa national football team does not use a single stadium as its home stadium for matches. Instead, they use a variety of stadiums throughout South Africa to host matches at.

The largest venue used is the 94,700-seater Soccer City in Soweto, outside Johannesburg. Other often used venues include the Atteridgeville Super Stadium, outside Pretoria, the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, outside Rustenburg, the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein and Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Matches have also been hosted at Ellis Park and Johannesburg Stadium in Johannesburg, Kings Park in Durban, Cape Town Stadium and Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and the EPRU Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Hoffe Park Stadium in Kimberley, Jan Smuts Stadium and Buffalo City Stadium in East London, Odi Stadium in Mabopane, Mmabatho Stadium in Mafikeng, Atlantic Stadium in Witbank and Olen Park in Potchefstroom.

The team has also hosted matches outside of South Africa. In preparation for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the team hosted a friendly in Baiersbronn, Germany. As a warm-up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the team hosted a friendly at Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong. In 2006 the team hosted a Nelson Mandela Challenge match at Griffin Park, in London, England. During their preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the team hosted two matches in Germany. The matches were played at the BRITA-Arena in Wiesbaden and the Stadion am Bieberer Berg in Offenbach am Main.

Historical Kits

The team's kit has traditionally been made up of combinations of the colours green and gold, the country's sporting colours. There was however, a period in the early 2000s, when the team wore a predominately white kit. The current home kit is mostly gold, while the away kit is mostly green.

World Cup 1998

World Cup 2002 Away

Media coverage

The South African Football Association owns the rights to national team matches played in South Africa. SAFA currently have a contract with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, to broadcast these matches. It is up to the SABC to procure the rights to matches played outside of the country.

The SABC usually shows most national team games, though they have often had problems with broadcasting weekday matches. They have previously used delayed live footage, and sometimes not shown matches.

Most large tournaments in which the team play, such as the FIFA World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, have separate broadcast rights.Supersport purchase the pay TV rights to these tournaments, thus during these tournaments, they also show South African matches. The SABC usually holds the free to air rights to these tournaments, with the notable exception being the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Those matches were shown by e.tv.

Sponsors

When the team returned to international football in 1992, their kit was supplied by Italian clothing company, Kappa. The team wore Kappa kits up to and during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Since the 1998 World Cup, the kits for all South African national football teams have been supplied by German sports apparel company Adidas. The sponsorship deal is believed to be worth R14 million per year. Their contract with the South African Football Association ran until the end of 2010.

The team has two main sponsors, ABSA and South African Breweries, which sponsors the team under their Castle Lager brand. The team's techinal sponsor was Adidas, and its broadcast sponsor is the SABC. Other sponsors are AVIS, Coca-Cola, Internet Solutions, Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Netcare, South African Airways, Sasol, Southern Sun and Vodacom.

On 7 June 2011, SAFA announced Puma as its new technical sponsor and unveiled Bafana Bafana's new kit.

Recent and future matches

Main article: South Africa national football team 2013

Last 5 matches

Date	Team	Result	Score	Type	Venue
23 March 2013	Central African Republic	W	2–0	2014 World Cup qualifier	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa
2 February 2013	Mali	D	1–1 (1-3 on penalties)	2013 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Finals	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa
27 January 2013	Morocco	D	2–2	2013 Africa Cup of Nations Group Match	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa
23 January 2013	Angola	W	2–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations Group Match	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa
19 January 2013	Cape Verde	D	0–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations Group Match	Soccer City, Johanesburg, South Africa

Upcoming matches

Date	Team	Type	Venue
2 June 2013	Lesotho	International Friendly	Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho
7 June 2013	Central African Republic	2014 World Cup qualifier	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon
14 June 2013	Ethiopia	2014 World Cup qualifier	Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
6 September 2013	Botswana	2014 World Cup qualifier	South Africa

Players

Current squad

A 25-man squad was originally selected for an international friendly against Lesotho and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Central African Republic and Ethiopia Following three withdrawals, Ricardo Nunes and Siyanda Xulu were called up, reducing the squad to 24. Xulu was then withdrawn, reducing the squad to 23.

Caps and goals updated as of 23 March 2013, following the match against Central African Republic.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Wayne Sandilands	(1983-08-23) 23 August 1983	2	0	Mamelodi Sundowns
16	1GK	Itumeleng Khune	(1987-06-20) 20 June 1987	55	0	Kaizer Chiefs
22	1GK	Senzo Meyiwa	(1987-09-24) 24 September 1987	0	0	Orlando Pirates
3	2DF	Tebogo Langerman	(1986-05-06) 6 May 1986	0	0	Mamelodi Sundowns
4	2DF	Thabo Nthethe	(1984-10-03) 3 October 1984	8	0	Bloemfontein Celtic
5	2DF	Anele Ngcongca	(1987-10-20) 20 October 1987	26	0	Racing Genk
21	2DF	Eric Mathoho	(1990-03-01) 1 March 1990	3	0	Kaizer Chiefs
	2DF	Bevan Fransman	(1983-10-31) 31 October 1983	19	0	Supersport United
	2DF	Tefu Mashamaite	(1984-09-27) 27 September 1984	0	0	Kaizer Chiefs
	2DF	Ricardo Nunes	(1986-06-18) 18 June 1986	2	0	MŠK Žilina
7	3MF	Daine Klate	(1985-02-25) 25 February 1985	11	1	Orlando Pirates
8	3MF	Siphiwe Tshabalalala	(1984-09-25) 25 September 1984	76	10	Kaizer Chiefs
12	3MF	Reneilwe Letsholonyane	(1982-06-09) 9 June 1982	39	1	Kaizer Chiefs
15	3MF	Dean Furman	(1988-06-22) 22 June 1988	10	0	Oldham Athletic
18	3MF	Thuso Phala	(1986-05-27) 27 May 1986	9	0	Platinum Stars
19	3MF	May Mahlangu	(1989-05-01) 1 May 1989	11	2	Helsingborgs IF
20	3MF	Oupa Manyisa	(1988-07-30) 30 July 1988	9	0	Orlando Pirates
	3MF	Thandani Ntshumayelo	(1990-04-20) 20 April 1990	1	0	Orlando Pirates
	3MF	Tlou Segolela	(1988-03-01) 1 March 1988	4	0	Orlando Pirates
17	4FW	Bernard Parker	(1986-03-16) 16 March 1986	54	13	Kaizer Chiefs
18	4FW	Katlego Mashego	(1982-05-18) 18 May 1982	17	1	Moroka Swallows
23	4FW	Tokelo Rantie	(1990-09-08) 8 September 1990	11	3	Malmö FF
	4FW	Richard Henyekane	(1983-09-28) 28 September 1983	8	0	Mamelodi Sundowns

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up to a squad in the last 12 months. Caps, goals and club affiliations relate to the time at which the matches were played.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Moeneeb Josephs	(1980-05-19) 19 May 1980	23	0	Orlando Pirates	v. Kenya; 16 October 2012
DF	Siyanda Xulu	(1991-12-30) 30 December 1991	1	0	Rostov	v. Lesotho; 2 June 2013INJ
DF	Siboniso Gaxa	(1984-04-06) 6 April 1984	55	0	Kaizer Chiefs	v. Lesotho; 2 June 2013INJ
DF	Tsepo Masilela	(1985-05-05) 5 May 1985	48	0	Kaizer Chiefs	v. Lesotho; 2 June 2013INJ
DF	Morgan Gould	(1983-03-23) 23 March 1983	27	1	Kaizer Chiefs	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013
DF	Thabo Matlaba	(1987-12-13) 13 December 1987	6	1	Orlando Pirates	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013
DF	Siyabonga Sangweni	(1981-09-29) 29 September 1981	29	4	Orlando Pirates	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013INJ
DF	Bongani Khumalo	(1987-01-06) 6 January 1987	38	1	PAOK	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Punch Masenamela	(1986-10-17) 17 October 1986	7	0	Mamelodi Sundowns	v. Zambia; 14 December 2012
DF	Luvhengo Mungomeni	(1985-02-18) 18 February 1985	1	0	Moroka Swallows	v. Kenya; 16 October 2012
MF	Kagisho Dikgacoi	(1984-11-24) 24 November 1984	53	2	Crystal Palace	v. Lesotho; 2 June 2013INJ
MF	Daylon Claasen	(1990-01-28) 28 January 1990	7	0	Lierse	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013
MF	Lerato Chabangu	(1985-08-15) 15 August 1985	21	2	Moroka Swallows	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013
MF	Thulani Serero	(1990-04-11) 11 April 1990	12	0	Ajax	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Ayanda Patosi	(1992-10-31) 31 October 1992	0	0	Lokeren	2013 Africa Cup of Nations provisional squadINJ
MF	George Maluleka	(1989-01-07) 7 January 1989	6	0	Supersport United	v. Zambia; 14 November 2012
MF	George Lebese	(1989-02-03) 3 February 1989	3	0	Kaizer Chiefs	v. Brazil; 7 September 2012INJ
MF	Lebohang Mokoena	(1986-09-29) 29 September 1986	8	0	Mamelodi Sundowns	v. Gabon; 26 June 2012
MF	Mzikayise Mashaba	(1989-01-13) 13 January 1989	2	1	Free State Stars	v. Gabon; 26 June 2012
FW	Dino Ndlovu	(1990-02-15) 15 February 1990	3	0	Maccabi Haifa	v. Central African Republic; 23 March 2013
FW	Lehlohonolo Majoro	(1986-08-19) 19 August 1986	9	2	Kaizer Chiefs	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
FW	Katlego Mphela	(1984-11-29) 29 November 1984	53	23	Mamelodi Sundowns	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
FW	Benni McCarthy	(1977-11-12) 12 November 1977	80	32	Orlando Pirates	2013 Africa Cup of Nations provisional squadINJ
FW	Kermit Erasmus	(1990-07-08) 8 July 1990	4	0	Supersport United	v. Zambia; 14 November 2012
FW	Edward Manqele	(1987-06-16) 16 June 1987	1	0	Mamelodi Sundowns	v. Brazil; 7 September 2012INJ
FW	Siyabonga Nomvethe	(1977-12-02) 2 December 1977	81	16	Moroka Swallows	v. Brazil; 7 September 2012INJ
FW	Eleazar Rodgers	(1985-01-22) 22 January 1985	2	0	Santos	v. Gabon; 26 June 2012

Notes

^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^WDR Player withdrawn from the squad by his club. ^PRS Player withdrew from the squad for personal reasons.

Past squads

• 1996 African Cup of Nations
• 1998 African Cup of Nations
• 2000 African Cup of Nations
• 2002 African Cup of Nations
• 2004 African Cup of Nations
• 2006 Africa Cup of Nations
• 2008 Africa Cup of Nations
• 2013 Africa Cup of Nations

• 1998 FIFA World Cup
• 2002 FIFA World Cup
• 2010 FIFA World Cup

Records

Aaron Mokoena became the first South African player to reach 100 caps on 31 May 2010, against Guatemala: to celebrate he wore kit numbered 100.

Most Caps

Player	South Africa career	Caps	Goals
Aaron Mokoena	1999–present	107	1
Siyabonga Nomvethe	1999–present	81	16
Benni McCarthy	1997–present	80	32
Siphiwe Tshabalala	2006–present	76	10
Shaun Bartlett	1995–2005	74	28
John Moshoeu	1992–2004	73	8
Delron Buckley	1999–2008	72	10
Lucas Radebe	1992–2003	70	2
Andre Arendse	1995–2004	67	0
Sibusiso Zuma	1998–2008	67	13

Top Goalscorers

Player	South Africa career	Goals	Caps
Benni McCarthy	1997–present	32	80
Shaun Bartlett	1995–2005	28	74
Katlego Mphela	2005–present	23	53
Phil Masinga	1992–2001	18	58
Siyabonga Nomvethe	1999–present	16	81
Sibusiso Zuma	1998–2008	13	67
Bernard Parker	2007–present	13	54
Teko Modise	2007–present	10	66
Delron Buckley	1998–2008	10	72
Siphiwe Tshabalala	2006–present	10	76

International record

FIFA World Cup Profile

Although South Africa has made three appearances in the World Cup, they have not made it past the first round. The team's first attempt to qualify as for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The team finished second in their group, behind Nigeria, who went on to play at the World Cup. Their first appearance was in France 1998, six years after they had been readmitted to the global football family. Despite a 3–0 drubbing to France in their opening game, they went on to draw against Denmark and Saudi Arabia, the team finished third and thus exited the tournament. Korea/Japan 2002 was expected to be an opportunity for Bafana Bafana to step up to the next level but they were eliminated at the group stage despite drawing to Paraguay and beating Slovenia 1–0 for their first-ever World Cup win. The team finished third in their group, losing out to Paraguay on goal difference. The team failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup after finishing third in their qualifying group. Ghana won the group and progressed to the tournament, while Congo DR finished ahead of South Africa on head to head results. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, they beat France 2–1 and drew 1–1 to Mexico, but lost 0–3 to Uruguay. They lost out on progression to the round of 16, on goal difference, for their second World Cup in a row.

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1962	Did Not Enter
1966	Not admitted
1970 to 1990	Banned
1994	Did Not Qualify
1998	Group Stage	24th	3	0	2	1	3	6
2002	Group Stage	17th	3	1	1	1	5	5
2006	Did Not Qualify
2010	Group Stage	20th	3	1	1	1	3	5
2014	To Be Determined
2018
2022
Total	Group Stage	3/19	9	2	4	3	11	16

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	Squad
1992	Banned
1995	Did Not Qualify
1997	Group Stage	8th	3	0	1	2	5	7	Squad
1999	Did Not Qualify
2001
2003
2005
2009	Fourth Place	4th	5	1	1	3	4	6	Squad
2013	Did Not Qualify
2017	To Be Determined
2021
Total	Fourth Place	2/8	8	1	2	5	9	13	-

Africa Cup of Nations

CAF Africa Cup of Nations record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1957	Disqualified because of apartheid
1959	Banned
1962
1963
1965
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994	Did Not Qualify
1996	Champions	1st	6	5	0	1	11	2
1998	Runners-up	2nd	6	3	2	1	9	6
2000	Third Place	3rd	6	3	2	1	8	6
2002	Quarter Final		4	1	2	1	3	3
2004	Group Stage		3	1	1	1	3	5
2006	Group Stage		3	0	0	3	0	5
2008	Group Stage		3	0	2	1	3	5
2010	Did Not Qualify
2012
2013	Quarter Final	6	4	1	2	1	5	3
2015	To Be Determined
2017
Total	Champions	8/29	34	14	11	9	41	34

Technical team

Position	Staff
Coach	Gordon Igesund
Team Doctor	Carl Tabane
Assistant Coach	Serame Letsoaka
Goalkeeper Coach	Alex Heredia
Team Manager	Barney Kujane
Physiologist	Zak van Heerden
Physiotherapist	Godfrey Sepuru

Source:

Coaches since 1992

• Wikus Malfuesi (1992)
• Ephraim Mashaba (1992)
• Augusto Palacios (1993)
• Clive Barker (1994–97)
• Jomo Sono (1998)¹
• Philippe Troussier (1998)
• Trott Moloto (1998–00)
• Carlos Queiroz (2000–02)
• Ephraim Mashaba (2001)²

• Trott Moloto (2002)³
• Jomo Sono (2002)⁴
• Ephraim Mashaba (2002–03)
• Jomo Sono (2003)⁵
• April Phumo (2004)
• Stuart Baxter (2004–05)
• Ted Dumitru (2005–06)
• Pitso Mosimane (2006)⁶
• Carlos Alberto Parreira (2007–08)

• Joel Santana (2008–09)
• Carlos Alberto Parreira (2009–10)
• Pitso Mosimane (2010–12)
• Steve Komphela (2012)⁷
• Gordon Igesund (2012–)

• ^1 Caretaker coach during 1998 African Cup of Nations
• ^2 Caretaker coach for one match
• ^3 Caretaker coach for one match
• ^4 Caretaker coach during 2002 FIFA World Cup
• ^5 Caretaker coach for one match
• ^6 Caretaker coach for seven matches
• ^7 Caretaker coach for two matches

Honours

• Africa Cup of Nations
  • Winner (1): 1996
  • Runner-up (1): 1998
  • Third Place (1): 2000

• FIFA Confederations Cup
  • Fourth Place (1): 2009

Other

• FIFA Best Mover of the Year
  • Winner (1): 1996

• Afro-Asia Cup of Nations
  • Winner (1): 1997

• COSAFA Cup
  • Winner (2): 2002, 2007, 2008^1
  • Third Place (2): 2000, 2005, 2009^1

−^1 From 2008 onwards, SAFA have sent a 'Development XI' to the COSAFA Cup. These matches thus do not count towards the senior national team's records.

External links

• South Africa FA official website