South Africa men's national association football team

The South Africa men's national association football team, nicknamed Bafana Bafana (Zulu for "The Boys"), represents South Africa in international football under the South African Football Association (SAFA). The team plays in yellow and green kits and is one of the most passionately supported national sides in Africa. Their primary home is Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, a 94,736-seat venue that hosted the 2010 World Cup final.

South Africa's first recorded match was in 1906, but apartheid policies led to a FIFA ban from 1976 and a forty-year effective suspension. Readmitted in 1992, the team quickly made an impact by hosting and winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996, defeating Tunisia 2-0 in the final. They reached the AFCON final again in 1998 but lost to Egypt. South Africa has qualified for three FIFA World Cups: 1998, 2002, and as hosts in 2010, when they became the first host nation eliminated in the group stage despite beating France 2-1.

As of January 2026, South Africa ranks 60th in the FIFA World Rankings. The team has also won multiple COSAFA Cups, most recently in 2023. Under Belgian coach Hugo Broos, appointed in 2021, they achieved a third-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, their best result since 2000.[edit]

The South African Football Association was formed in 1892, but the national team's early years were marked by racial segregation. The apartheid regime led to South Africa's expulsion from FIFA in 1976, effectively isolating the team for sixteen years. During this period, the team played only unofficial matches, often against white-only or mixed-race sides. The end of apartheid in the early 1990s paved the way for readmission. South Africa played its first official post-apartheid match on July 7, 1992, a 1-0 loss to Cameroon.

The team's golden era came in the mid-1990s. Hosting the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa went undefeated, with Mark Williams scoring both goals in a 2-0 final victory over Tunisia. This triumph united a nation emerging from apartheid. The team reached the 1998 AFCON final but fell 2-0 to Egypt. South Africa also qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, losing all three group matches, and the 2002 World Cup, where they earned a 1-0 win over Slovenia but failed to advance.

The 2010 World Cup was a milestone as the first African host nation. South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico, lost 3-0 to Uruguay, and defeated France 2-1 in a thrilling group-stage exit. The team struggled in subsequent years, failing to qualify for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. Under Hugo Broos, a rebuilding phase began, culminating in a third-place finish at the 2023 AFCON, where they eliminated Morocco and Egypt before losing to Nigeria on penalties.[edit]