South Africa national soccer team
men's national association football team representing South Africa
The South Africa national soccer team (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse nasionale sokkerspan) is represents South Africa in international men's soccer.
| Nickname(s) | Bafana Bafana (“The Boys, The Boys” / Zulu:"Go boys! Go boys!")[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | South African Football Association | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA (Southern Africa) | ||
| Head coach | Stuart Baxter | ||
| Captain | Thulani Hlatshwayo | ||
| Most caps | Aaron Mokoena (107) | ||
| Top scorer | Benni McCarthy (31) | ||
| Home stadium | Various | ||
| FIFA code | RSA | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 67  (22 December 2022)[2] | ||
| Highest | 16 (August 1996) | ||
| Lowest | 124 (December 1992) | ||
| First international | |||
 Argentina 0–1 South Africa  (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 9 July 1906)[3] | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Australia 0–8 South Africa  (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955)[4] | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 South Africa 0–5 Brazil  (Johannesburg, South Africa; 5 March 2014) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1998) | ||
| Best result | Group stage, 1998, 2002 and 2010 | ||
| Africa Cup of Nations | |||
| Appearances | 9 (first in 1996) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1996 | ||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2005) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 2005 | ||
| Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 1997) | ||
| Best result | Fourth place, 2009 | ||
Most appearances
change| Player | Career | Apps | Goals |
| Aaron Mokoena | 1999–2010 | 107 | 1 |
| Siphiwe Tshabalala | 2006–present | 88 | 12 |
| Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999–2012 | 81 | 16 |
| Benni McCarthy | 1997–2012 | 80 | 32 |
| Shaun Bartlett | 1995–2005 | 74 | 28 |
| John Moshoeu | 1992–2004 | 73 | 8 |
| Delron Buckley | 1999–2008 | 72 | 10 |
| Lucas Radebe | 1992–2003 | 70 | 2 |
| Bernard Parker | 2007–present | 68 | 23 |
| Andre Arendse | 1995–2004 | 67 | 0 |
| Sibusiso Zuma | 1998–2008 | 67 | 13 |
Top scorers
change| Player | Career | Goals | Apps |
| Benni McCarthy | 1997–2012 | 32 | 80 |
| Shaun Bartlett | 1995–2005 | 28 | 74 |
| Katlego Mphela | 2005–present | 23 | 53 |
| Bernard Parker | 2007–present | 23 | 68 |
| Phil Masinga | 1992–2001 | 18 | 58 |
| Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999–2012 | 16 | 81 |
| Sibusiso Zuma | 1998–2008 | 13 | 67 |
| Siphiwe Tshabalala | 2006–present | 12 | 88 |
| Teko Modise | 2007–2012 | 10 | 66 |
| Delron Buckley | 1998–2008 | 10 | 72 |
References
change- ↑ "South Africa national football team". Football Arroyo. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ↑ "Argentina v South Africa, 09 July 1906". International Football History and Statistics. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ↑ "All Bafana Bafana Matches" (PDF). South Africa FA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
- ↑ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ↑ The Elo ratings website Archived 23 July 2011 at Wikiwix lists 21 as the highest reached position, though after 23 (too few?) matches between 1947 and 1955, almost all with Australia and New Zealand, it had reached 9th place.
