South Africa national soccer team
South African men’s national football Team / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The South Africa men’s national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and it is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. The team's nickname is Bafana Bafana (The Boys/Go boys go boys), and South Africa's home ground is FNB Stadium, which is located in Johannesburg. The team's greatest result was winning the Africa Cup of Nations at home in 1996. The team is a member of both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
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| Nickname(s) | Bafana Bafana | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | South African Football Association (SAFA) | |||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | |||
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA (Southern Africa) | |||
| Head coach | Hugo Broos | |||
| Captain | Ronwen Williams | |||
| Most caps | Aaron Mokoena (107) | |||
| Top scorer | Benni McCarthy (31) | |||
| Home stadium | FNB Stadium Cape Town Stadium | |||
| FIFA code | RSA | |||
| ||||
| FIFA ranking | ||||
| Current | 65  2 (21 September 2023)[1] | |||
| Highest | 16 (August 1996) | |||
| Lowest | 124 (December 1992) | |||
| First international | ||||
 Argentina 0–1 South Africa  (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 9 July 1906)[2][3] | ||||
| Biggest win | ||||
.svg/23px-Flag_of_Australia_(converted).svg.png){kind=small} Australia 0–8 South Africa .svg/23px-Flag_of_South_Africa_(1928–1994).svg.png){kind=small} (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955)[4] | ||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||
.svg/23px-Red_Ensign_of_South_Africa_(1912–1951).svg.png){kind=small} South Africa 1–9 England  (Cape Town, South Africa; 17 July 1920)[2] | ||||
| World Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1998) | |||
| Best result | Group Stage (1998, 2002, 2010) | |||
| Africa Cup of Nations | ||||
| Appearances | 11 (first in 1996) | |||
| Best result | Champions (1996) | |||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2005) | |||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (2005) | |||
| African Nations Championship | ||||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 2011) | |||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (2011) | |||
| COSAFA Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 18 (first in 1998) | |||
| Best result | Champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021) | |||
| Website | safa.net | |||
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.svg/16px-Silver_medal_icon_(S_initial).svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg/16px-Bronze_medal_icon_(B_initial).svg.png){kind=icon}
Having played their first match in 1906, they returned to the world stage in 1992, after 16 years of being banned from FIFA, and 40 years of effective suspension due to the apartheid system.[5] South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup when it was granted host status for the 2010 edition. The team's Siphiwe Tshabalala was also the first player to score in this World Cup during the opening game against Mexico, which was followed by an iconic Macarena-style goal celebration from five South African players.[6][7] Despite defeating France 2–1 in their final game of the Group Stage, they failed to progress from the first round of the tournament, becoming the first host nation in the history of the FIFA World Cup to exit in the group stage, followed by Qatar in 2022.[8] The team was ranked 20th out of 32 sides that participated. As of the 29 June 2023, the team is ranked 12th in Africa (CAF) and has moved four spots up in the world (FIFA) and is currently in the 62nd position.