South African national soccer team / World Championships

Republic of South Africa
Republic of South Africa ( Engl. )
Republiek van Suid-Afrika ( Afrik. )

World Cup record goalscorer:	Shaun Bartlett Benni McCarthy (2 each)
World Cup record players:	four players with 6
Rank :	46
Organizer:	2010
Balance sheet
9 World Cup games 2 wins 4 draws 3 losses 11:16 goals
statistics
First World Cup game South Africa 0: 3 France Marseille ( FRA ); June 12, 1998
Biggest World Cup victories South Africa 1-0 Slovenia Daegu ( KOR ); June 8, 2002 South Africa 2: 1 France Bloemfontein ( ZAF ); June 22, 2010
Biggest World Cup defeats South Africa 0: 3 France Marseille ( FRA ); June 12, 1998 South Africa 0-3 Uruguay Johannesburg ( ZAF ); June 16, 2010
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 1998 )
Best results	Preliminary round (1998, 2002, 2010)
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: after the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the South African national soccer team at soccer world championships . South Africa first took part in qualifying for the 1994 World Cup and has so far qualified twice for the World Cup and once hosted the first World Cup in Africa , where the team was the first to be eliminated in the group stage. In the eternal ranking South Africa has the 46th place and has never reached the K. Knockout Round.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
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.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In qualifying on Senegal failed
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Not participated: 7 × (33%; 1930 to 1962)
• Not permitted: 7 × (33%; 1966 to 1990)
• Not qualified: 4 × (19%; 1994, 2006, 2014 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification: 2 × (10% or 28% of the attempts)
• Participation without qualification as a host: 1 × (5%; 2010)
  • Preliminary round: 3 × (14%; 1998, 2002 and 2010)

World Cup tournaments

1930 to 1990

Although a South African football association was founded in 1882 and the first unofficial international matches were played in Europe in 1924, South Africa did not take part in the first world championships. South Africa only wanted to qualify for the 1966 World Cup , but was excluded because of the apartheid policy . After the association was excluded in the 1970s, South Africa was also not allowed to participate in the following World Cup qualifications.

1994 in the USA

The qualification for the World Cup in the USA , for which the Africans received three starting places, was the first in which South Africa was allowed to participate after the end of apartheid. South Africa would play in a group against Nigeria , the Republic of the Congo and Libya . But Libya waived. On October 10, 1992, the South Africans played their first World Cup qualifier and lost to Nigeria 4-0. On October 24th they won 1-0 against the Republic of Congo with a goal from Phil Masinga . After a 0-0 home game against Nigeria, the second win against the Republic of the Congo was insignificant, because since Nigeria won both games against the Republic of the Congo, the South Africans were left behind and Nigeria was able to win the World Cup for the first time in the further course of the qualification. Qualify final tournament.

1998 in France

The qualification for the second World Cup in France, for which the Africans were now even entitled to five starting places, was then successful. In the first qualifying round South Africa beat Malawi 1-0 and 3-0. In the second round, the Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zaire were eliminated, with only the game in the Republic of the Congo being lost. But with the 1-0 in the second leg, the qualification was made perfect on the last matchday.

In France, the first World Cup match against hosts France was lost 3-0. They then scored 1-1 against Denmark , with Benni McCarthy scoring the first ever World Cup goal for South Africa. In the final group game against Saudi Arabia , Shaun Bartlett was able to equalize 2-2 with his second goal in the final minute, but since Denmark had won against Saudi Arabia, it was only enough for third place. With the preliminary round ended the tenure of Philippe Troussier , who had only taken over the team in May 1998.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia, which the South Africans began under Trott Moloto , the South Africans beat Lesotho 2-0 and 1-0 in the first round . In the second round, Zimbabwe , Burkina Faso , Malawi and Guinea were the opponents. But Guinea was disqualified after three games against the other three opponents because the government had interfered in the interests of the football association. A tragedy occurred in the first group game on July 8, 2000 in Zimbabwe, when the police attacked angry spectators in the 83rd minute after the 2-0 draw and the use of tear gas caused a panic in which 13 people died. The game was rated 2-0 for South Africa after 83 minutes. With four more wins and one draw, South Africa qualified for the second time for the World Cup finals, but had changed coach in October 2000. The Portuguese Carlos Queiroz initially coached the team, but resigned before the tournament due to disagreements with the then sporting director Jomo Sono . Sono then led the team to the World Cup.

For the finals, Nigeria was drawn into a group with Paraguay , World Cup newcomers Slovenia and Spain . After a 2-2 win against Paraguay, a 1-0 win against Slovenia was the first win in a World Cup game. Since Spain had won 3-1 against Slovenia and Paraguay, the Spaniards were already group winners and the last matchday had to decide who could move into the knockout round as second in the group. Up until the 56th minute it was 2-2 between South Africa and Spain, while Paraguay were down 1-0 against Slovenia and since the 22nd minute after the yellow-red card for Carlos Humberto Paredes, only 10 players had played. This would mean that South Africa would be runners-up and Paraguay the last. Then Raúl scored the 3-2 for Spain, but that would mean South Africa would be even further and since the South Africans assumed it would be enough, they made no move to turn the game around again. In the 65th minute Nelson Cuevas equalized for Paraguay and in the 73rd minute, substitute Jorge Luis Campos scored the 2-1 lead. That gave Paraguay and South Africa four points each, but South Africa 5: 5 and Paraguay 5: 6 goals, which meant that South Africa was still better. In the 84th minute, Cuevas then scored the 3-1, which put Paraguay 6: 6 goals ahead of South Africa. Since the South Africans were not informed of the score in the parallel game, they continued to assume that it was not necessary to score another goal and then had to accept that it was not them but Paraguay who were second in the group. Sono stayed in office for one more game after the World Cup and was then replaced by Ephraim Mashaba , who had looked after the team for a game in 1992.

2006 in Germany

After South Africa had lost in the vote on the host country of the World Cup against Germany, the team could not also for the sporty 2006 World Cup in Germany qualify . After a bye in the first round, the team coached by Scots Stuart Baxter faced Ghana , DR Congo , Burkina Faso , Cape Verde and Uganda in the second round in a group . The South Africans finished in third place, tied with the Democratic Republic of the Congo but with the worse goal difference. Group winners Ghana, against which both games were lost, qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

2010 in South Africa

South African fan with Vuvuzela

Scene from the opening game against Mexico

Four years later, South Africa did not have to qualify as South Africa prevailed in the vote on the host country with 14: 10: 0 votes against Morocco and Egypt. Nevertheless, the team took part in the qualifying games, as they also served as qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. The South Africans were looked after by the Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira , who won the title with Brazil in 1994 .

In the final round , the team was drawn as opponents of the opening game Mexico , which played the first or opening game for the fifth time. Although managed Siphiwe Tshabalala 's first goal of the World Cup finals, Rafael Márquez but was 24 minutes later compensated and that was all, making it the first time since 1986 again no winner in the opening game gave. In the second game against the eventual fourth Uruguay , South Africa then lost 3-0. A 2: 1 against vice world champions France was not enough to reach the round of 16, as Mexico had the better goal difference with the same number of points. This was the first time the hosts were eliminated in the preliminary round despite the loud support of the fans . With the preliminary round, the term of office of Parreira as national coach ended.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil then went badly again. In the group stage, the opponents were Ethiopia , Botswana and the Central African Republic . The original 2-1 win by Ethiopia against Botswana was converted by FIFA into a 3-0 win for Botswana, as Ethiopia had used Minyahil Teshome, a player who was suspended after two yellow cards, this defeat at the green table but was the only defeat of the Ethiopians, so that in the end they were ahead of South Africa. In the subsequent playoff games of the group winners, the Ethiopians lost both games against Nigeria .

2018 in Russia

In the qualification , the team, which had been coached by Ephraim Mashaba since July 2014 , only had to intervene in the second round, which took place in November 2015. Opponent in the only pairing of two former African World Cup participants was Angola . South Africa reached the third round with two wins (3-1 and 1-0). Between October 2016 and November 2017, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Senegal were the opponents. South Africa started with a 1-1 draw in Burkina Faso and then won the home game against Senegal 2-1. Due to manipulation by the Ghanaian referee, the game was later not counted and had to be repeated on November 10, 2017. The South Africans, who had sacked Mashaba in November 2016 and replaced by former national coach Stuart Baxter and only won the home game against Burkina Faso between the two games and lost both games against Cape Verde, lost the replay 2-0 and had before the last game - the second leg against Senegal, who qualified through the win - no more chance to qualify for the World Cup. They then also lost the last game and were bottom of the group.

player

Ranking of the South African World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Quinton Fortune , Benni McCarthy , Aaron Mokoena and Lucas Radebe - 6 appearances in 2 tournaments

05. Pierre Issa and MacBeth Sibaya - 4 appearances in 2 tournaments

Ranking of the South African World Cup players with the most goals

01. Shaun Bartlett and Benni McCarthy - 2 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1998, 2002: Lucas Radebe
• 2010: Aaron Mokoena

Players banned from World Championships

• 1998: Alfred Phiri received the red card in the second group game 22 minutes after being substituted on for assault and was suspended for the last group game. In this, Lucas Radebe received the second yellow card , but this had no further effect since South Africa was eliminated.
• 2002: Aaron Mokoena received the second yellow card in the last group game, but this had no further effect as South Africa was eliminated.
• 2010: Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune received a red card in the second group match against Uruguay and was suspended for the last game against France, as was Kagisho Dikgacoi , who received the second yellow card.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

In the first two appearances, the South Africans nominated predominantly foreign players. In 2010, however, they were in the minority.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1998 (3)	14 (1 in Germany, 2 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Italy, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Austria, 1 in Switzerland, 1 in Spain, 4 in Turkey)	Delron Buckley (0); Mark Fish (3), Lucas Radebe (3); Pierre Issa (3); Phil Masinga (2); Benni McCarthy (3), Hans Vonk (3) ;, Brendan Augustine (2); David Nyathi (2); Quinton Fortune (3); Helman Mkhalele (3), Lebohang Morula (0), John Moshoeu (3), Alfred Phiri (1)
2002 (3)	16 (1 in Belgium, 1 in Bulgaria, 1 in Denmark, 2 in Germany, 3 in England, 1 in Italy, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Portugal, 2 in Russia, 2 in Switzerland)	Aaron Mokoena, 30; MacDonald Mukansi (1); Sibusiso Zuma (3); Delron Buckley (1), Bradley Carnell (3); Quinton Fortune (3), Pierre Issa (1), Lucas Radebe (3); Siyabonga Nomvethe (2); Steven Pienaar (0), Hans Vonk (0); Benni McCarthy (3); Jacob Lekgetho (1), Bennett Mnguni (0); George Koumantarakis (3), Teboho Mokoena (3)
2010 (3)	7 (1 in Belgium, 3 in England, 1 in Israel, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia)	Anele Ngcongca (1); Kagisho Dikgacoi (2), Aaron Mokoena (3), Steven Pienaar (3); Tsepo Masilela (3); Bernard Parker (2); MacBeth Sibaya (1)

Games

The South Africans have played 9 World Cup games so far, two of which have been won, three lost and four have ended in a draw. The South Africans had three home games and thus the fewest of all hosts. As hosts, you played the opening game once, met the host and eventual world champion once, but never the defending champion and only once against a newcomer (Slovenia). The South Africans played most often against France (2 ×).

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1	06/12/1998	0: 3	France	A.	Marseille ( FRA )	Preliminary round
2	06/18/1998	1: 1	Denmark	*	Toulouse ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Denmark
3	06/24/1998	2: 2	Saudi Arabia	*	Bordeaux ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Saudi Arabia
4th	06/02/2002	2: 2	Paraguay	*	Busan ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First game against Paraguay
5	06/08/2002	1-0	Slovenia	*	Daegu ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First game against Slovenia
6th	06/12/2002	2: 3	Spain	*	Daejeon ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First game against Spain
7th	06/11/2010	1: 1	Mexico	H	Johannesburg	Preliminary round	Opening game of the World Cup
8th	06/16/2010	0: 3	Uruguay	H	Pretoria	Preliminary round
9	06/22/2010	2: 1	France	H	Bloemfontein	Preliminary round

Highest victories and defeats

All of South Africa's World Cup victories were also the greatest victories against these teams:

•  France : Preliminary round 2010 - 2-1 (only win against France)
•  Slovenia : Preliminary round 2002 - 1-0 (only game against Slovenia)

South Africa suffered its biggest defeats against the following teams at World Cup tournaments:

•  France : preliminary round 1998 - 3-0
•  Uruguay : preliminary round 2002 - 0-3

particularities

• South Africa are the first team to be eliminated as hosts in the preliminary round.
• Pierre Issa's own goal on June 12, 1998, which made it 2-0 in the 3-0 draw against hosts France, was the 1,600. World Cup goal. It's the only anniversary tour that fell through an own goal.

Web links

• fifa.com: South Africa
• Milestones & superlatives FIFA World Cup

References and footnotes

1. ↑ 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)
2. ↑ All games in South Africa from July 7, 1992 to April 25, 2001 ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.