South African national soccer team
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Nickname (s) | Bafana Bafana | ||
Association | South African Football Association | ||
confederacy | CAF | ||
Technical sponsor | Nike | ||
Head coach |
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captain | Thulani Hlatshwayo | ||
Record scorer | Benni McCarthy (32) | ||
Record player | Aaron Mokoena (107) | ||
Home stadium | FNB stadium | ||
FIFA code | RSA | ||
FIFA rank | 71st (1334 points) (as of July 16, 2020) |
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statistics | |||
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First international Northern Ireland 1-0 South Africa ( Belfast , Northern Ireland ; 24 September 1924)
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Biggest win Australia 0-8 South Africa ( Adelaide , Australia ; September 17, 1955)
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Biggest defeats Nigeria 4-0 South Africa ( Lagos , Nigeria ; October 10, 1992) Mexico 4-0 South Africa ( Los Angeles , USA ; October 6, 1993) USA 4: 0 South Africa ( Washington, DC , USA ; June 3, 2000) Nigeria 4-0 South Africa ( Monastir , Tunisia ; January 31, 2004)
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Successes in tournaments | |||
World Championship | |||
Participation in the finals | 3 ( first : 1998 ) | ||
Best results | Preliminary round 1998, 2002, 2010 | ||
African Championship | |||
Participation in the finals | 10 ( first : 1996 ) | ||
Best results | Winner 1996 | ||
Confederations Cup | |||
Participation in the finals | 2 ( first : 1997 ) | ||
Best results | 4th place in 2009 | ||
North and Central American Championship | |||
Participation in the finals | 1 | ||
Best results | Quarterfinals 2005 | ||
(As of May 2017) |
The South African national football team is the selection team of the South African Football Association . The team known as Bafana bafana (“the boys”) achieved the only international title for football in South Africa as the 1996 African champions . The highest position ever achieved in the FIFA world rankings was a 16th place.
history
Beginnings up to the Second World War
The sport of football was brought to the Cape Colony in South Africa by the British colonial power in the second half of the 19th century ; The first documented soccer game in what is now the Republic of South Africa was played in its capital, Cape Town . A selection team was formed for the first time at the turn of the century when the English club Corinthian FC traveled to the colonies several times. Like all selection teams until 1992, the "official" national team consisted exclusively of white players due to racial segregation . However, as early as 1898, a selection of black players from the Orange Free State , the Orange Free State Bantu Soccer team, had visited metropolitan England and played a few games there; it became known there under the pejorative name " Kaffirs ".
A first trip abroad over nine weeks led the white South Africa selection to South America, where they played against Brazilian club teams as well as against Uruguay and Argentina ; She won both internationals, the latter 4-1 in Buenos Aires. The first games of a selection from the South African Union , at the time a Dominion of the British Crown, were played in Europe in 1924. A team named Springbok Touring Team traveled to Europe in the year where they played between August 30 and December 3, 1924 Completed 21 games against club teams and five games against national teams. Of the games against Northern Ireland , Wales , the Netherlands and England twice, only the Irish Football Association and the Dutch Association count their games in Belfast on September 24, 1924 and Amsterdam on November 2, 1924 as an official international match . The game in Amsterdam was chaired by the German referee Peco Bauwens .
Apartheid and international isolation
The first - as counted by FIFA and RSSSF - official international match of the selection from the South African Union took place on May 10, 1947 in Sydney . It was the first of five games against Australia in as many weeks . Of these, the South Africans won three, one ended in a draw. The South Africans then traveled to New Zealand , against whose national team they won all four games until July 19, 1947. Three years later, the Australian team came to South Africa for a return visit. The 3-2 victory in Durban on June 24, 1950 was the Union's first home game. There were two wins and two defeats in the four games of the Australian tour. 1953 followed a game in Lisbon against the Portuguese national team , in 1954 one in Johannesburg against the team from Israel . The selection played another five games in 1955 on a second trip to Australia against the Socceroos , all of which they won - with an overall goal ratio of 23: 1.
After the white government established apartheid after the Second World War , South Africa also became isolated internationally in terms of sport. The South African team was excluded from the first African Cup of Nations in 1957 by the CAF - which had just been founded and to which only the three other associations participating in the Africa Cup belonged. The FIFA suspended South African Association in 1964 at its Congress in Tokyo , about a decade later, the official exclusion.
Re-entry into the sports community
It was not until 1992 that the Republic of South Africa was re-accepted into the international association as a result of the gradual dissolution of apartheid; the first international match of the national team organized by the new football association SAFA under coach Stanley Tshabalala on July 7, 1992 was a 1-0 victory in the rugby stadium King's Park in Durban against Cameroon , which not only euphorized the national coach:
“We're going to set the world on fire. We have arrived."
Another two games against the World Cup quarter-finalist from 1990 , who had traveled to the association's unification celebrations, followed: a 2-1 defeat in Cape Town and a 2-2 in Johannesburg. The new team was nicknamed Bafana Bafana , "the boys the boys" (meaning in Zulu , in Xhosa : "the men are the men"). Their fourth game led the team for the first time abroad in the AM-qualification documents the guys in Harare the Zimbabwean Warriors 1: 4. However, one win (in Mauritius ) and two draws were not enough to reach the finals.
The team also missed qualifying for the 1994 World Cup .
African champions in their own country
Kenya was originally intended for the finals of the 1996 African Cup of Nations ; the Kenyan Association, however, renounced the alignment and South Africa stepped in. Bafana Bafana was thus set for the finals and left qualifying group 5 after two wins and one draw. In the absence of defending champions Nigeria , the South Africans reached the final, beating Tunisia 2-0 thanks to two goals from Mark Williams in front of 75,000 spectators at Soccer City in Johannesburg . Williams was with five goals - together with the Zambian Kalusha Bwalya - the top scorer of the tournament.
Two years later, South Africa reached the final of the 1998 African Championship again , but lost 2-0 to the Egyptians in Ouagadougou . Half a year later, the South Africans also competed in the 1998 World Cup , for which they had qualified in Africa Group 3 . After two draws and one defeat against the hosts , they had to say goodbye to France after the preliminary round. At the African Cup of Nations in 2000, South Africa lost to the Nigerians in the semi-finals and came third by defeating Tunisia on penalties.
In 2013 , South Africa hosted the African Football Championship for the second time . In the opening game, South Africa drew 1: 1 against Cape Verde . In the second game, South Africa won 2-0 against Angola . On the last day of the group, each team had the chance to reach the quarter-finals. With a 2-2 draw against Morocco, South Africa secured group victory in Group A ahead of Cape Verde. In the quarter-finals, South Africa was eliminated on penalties against Mali .
The new millennium
In 2002 the South Africans again took part in the finals of the AM 2002 , but had to admit defeat to the Malian hosts in the quarterfinals . They also qualified for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea (without losing points), but had to let Paraguay move into the last 16 against Germany due to fewer goals scored . From then on, higher placements at major tournaments were not achieved - the team said goodbye to the following three African Championships after the preliminary round, and the team could not qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, for which South Africa had also applied .
For the 2010 World Cup , which will be held in Africa for the first time , South Africa was chosen as the host so that the team did not have to qualify as hosts. In qualifying for the African Cup of Nations 2010 , which took place earlier in the year , South Africa already failed in the group stage.
World championship in their own country
In the run-up to the World Cup, South Africa hosted the 2009 Confederations Cup . Despite all the euphoria in the country and in the team, the hosts couldn't get beyond a 0-0 draw against Asian champions Iraq in the opening game . At the end of the tournament, the South African team achieved a respectable fourth place against European champions Spain in the game for third place on June 28, 2009.
In the opening game of the Soccer World Cup on June 11, 2010, the team beat Mexico 1: 1 in the sold-out Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg . However, Bafana Bafana lost the second game against Uruguay 3-0. In the third game they won 2-1 against France , which was not enough to advance due to the poorer goal difference against Mexico. Thus, South Africa was the first World Cup host to be eliminated after the preliminary round.
Current squad
Tournaments
World Championship
year | Host country | Participation until ... | Last opponent | Result | Trainer | Comments and special features |
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1930 | Uruguay | not participated | ||||
1934 | Italy | not participated | ||||
1938 | France | not participated | ||||
1950 | Brazil | not participated | ||||
1954 | Switzerland | not participated | ||||
1958 | Sweden | not participated | ||||
1962 | Chile | not participated | ||||
1966 | England | not participated | suspended by FIFA after qualification begins | |||
1970 | Mexico | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1974 | Germany | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1978 | Argentina | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1982 | Spain | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1986 | Mexico | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1990 | Italy | not participated | suspended by FIFA | |||
1994 | United States | not qualified | In the qualifiers in the first round of Nigeria failed. | |||
1998 | France | Preliminary round | France , Denmark , Saudi Arabia | 24. | Philippe Troussier | After a defeat against eventual world champions France and two draws against Denmark and Saudi Arabia, they were eliminated as third in the group. |
2002 | South Korea / Japan | Preliminary round | Paraguay , Slovenia , Spain | 17th | Jomo Sono | After a draw against Paraguay, a win against Slovenia and a defeat against Spain due to the fewer goals scored, retired as third party. |
2006 | Germany | not qualified | In the qualification in the 2nd round to Ghana failed. | |||
2010 | South Africa | Preliminary round | Mexico , Uruguay , France | 20th | Carlos Alberto Parreira | After a draw in the opening game against Mexico, a defeat against Uruguay and a win against France, South Africa finished third in the group due to the worse goal difference and was the first host to be eliminated in the preliminary round at a World Cup. |
2014 | Brazil | not qualified |
In the qualification of Ethiopia failed, which also failed in the playoffs the group winner. |
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2018 | Russia | not qualified | Failed in the qualification in the third round at Senegal , Burkina Faso and Cape Verde | |||
2022 | Qatar |
African Championship
1957 in Sudan | locked out |
1959 to 1992 | suspended by the CAF |
1994 in Tunisia | not qualified |
1996 in South Africa | African champions |
1998 in Burkina Faso | 2nd place |
2000 in Ghana and Nigeria | 3rd place |
2002 in Mali | Quarter finals |
2004 in Tunisia | Preliminary round 3rd place |
2006 in Egypt | Preliminary round 4th place |
2008 in Ghana | Preliminary round 4th place |
2010 in Angola | not qualified |
2012 in Equatorial Guinea / Gabon | not qualified |
2013 in South Africa | Quarter finals |
2015 in Equatorial Guinea | Preliminary round 4th place |
2017 in Gabon | not qualified |
2019 in Egypt | Quarter finals |
South Africa was excluded from the tournament in 1957 due to its refusal to compete with a multi-ethnic team.
The South African national team was suspended by FIFA at international level from 1957 to 1992 because of the apartheid policy in the country.
African Nations Championship
Only players who play in the national championships of their home countries are eligible to play in this championship. The matches will be counted as friendly matches or not by FIFA.
2009 in Ivory Coast | not qualified |
2011 in Sudan | Quarter finals |
2014 in South Africa | Preliminary round |
2016 in Rwanda | not qualified |
2018 in Morocco | not qualified |
2020 in Cameroon | not qualified |
South African Championship (COSAFA Cup)
1997 | not participated |
1998 | not qualified |
1999 | Quarter finals |
2000 | Semifinals |
2001 | Quarter finals |
2002 | 1st place |
2003 | Quarter finals |
2004 | not qualified |
2005 | Semifinals |
2006 | not qualified |
2007 | 1st place |
2008 | 1st place |
2009 | Fourth |
2013 | Third |
2015 | Consolation round |
2016 | 1st place |
2017 | Winner of the consolation round (5th place) |
2018 | Winner of the consolation round (5th place) |
2019 | Winner of the consolation round (5th place) |
Trainer
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Stanley Tshabalala (1992)
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Ephraim Mashaba (1992)
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Augusto Palacios (1993)
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Clive Barker (1994-1997)
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Jomo Sono (1998)
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Philippe Troussier (1998)
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Trott Moloto (1998-2000)
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Carlos Queiroz (2000-2002)
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Jomo Sono (2002)
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Ephraim Mashaba (2002-2004)
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Stuart Baxter (2004-2005)
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Dumitru Teodorescu (2005-2006)
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Carlos Alberto Parreira (2007-2008)
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Joel Santana (2008-2009)
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Carlos Alberto Parreira (2009-2010)
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Pitso Mosimane (2010–2012)
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Gordon Igesund (2012-2014)
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Ephraim Mashaba (2014-2017)
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Stuart Baxter (2017-2019)
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Molefi Ntseki (2019, interim)
Record player
(As of November 20, 2018)
Record player | |||
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Games | player | Period | Gates |
107 | Aaron Mokoena | 1999-2010 | 1 |
91 | Itumeleng Khune | 2008– | 0 |
89 | Siphiwe Tshabalala | 2006-2017 | 12 |
82 | Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999-2012 | 16 |
80 | Benni McCarthy | 1997-2010 | 31 |
74 | Shaun Bartlett | 1995-2005 | 28 |
73 | John Moshoeu | 1993-2004 | 8th |
72 | Delron Buckley | 1998-2012 | 10 |
72 | Bernard Parker | 2007-2015 | 23 |
70 | Lucas Radebe | 1992-2003 | 2 |
67 | Andre Arendse | 1995-2004 | 0 |
67 | Sibusiso Zuma | 1998-2008 | 13 |
Record shooters | |||
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Gates | player | Period | Games |
31 | Benni McCarthy | 1997-2012 | 80 |
28 | Shaun Bartlett | 1995-2005 | 74 |
23 | Bernard Parker | 2007-2015 | 72 |
23 | Katlego Mphela | 2005-2013 | 53 |
19th | Phil Masinga | 1992-2001 | 58 |
16 | Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999-2010 | 82 |
13 | Sibusiso Zuma | 1998-2008 | 67 |
12 | Tokelo Rantie | 2012 – active | 41 |
12 | Siphiwe Tshabalala | 2006-2014 | 88 |
11 | Donald Wilson | 1947-1947 | 9 |
10 | Delron Buckley | 1998-2008 | 72 |
10 | Teko Modise | 2007–2012 | 66 |
International matches against German-speaking national teams
date | place | Home team | result | Visiting team | |
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1. | 12/15/1995 | Johannesburg |
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0-0 |
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2. | 11/15/1997 | Dusseldorf |
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3-0 |
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3. | 09/07/2005 | Bremen |
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4: 2 |
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4th | 09/05/2009 | Leverkusen |
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2-0 |
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So far there have been no international matches against Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
See also
- List of international matches for the South African national football team
- South African National Football Team (U-17 Juniors)
- South African National Football Team (U-20 men)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 .
- ^ Team history , website of the South African Football Association SAFA, viewed on June 2, 2009
- ↑ History of South African Football on the FIFA website , viewed June 4, 2009
- ↑ irishfa.com: Northern Ireland v. South Africa
- ^ South Africa International Matches 1924 , statistics at the RSSSF , viewed on June 2, 2009
- ^ South Africa International Matches 1947–1955 , statistics at the RSSSF, viewed on June 2, 2009
- ↑ "We are going to set the world in flames. We have arrived." , quoted in Sport: Quotes of the week , The Independent, July 11, 1992, online version viewed June 5, 2009
- ↑ What's in a name? , BBC Sport Online December 14, 2005, viewed June 5, 2009
- ↑ President's seal of approval boosts Bafana , CAF website of June 14, 2009
- ↑ South Africa - detailed squad 17/18 . ( transfermarkt.de [accessed on February 15, 2018]).
- ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
- ↑ a b rsssf.com: South Africa - International Appearances