How far will Bafana Bafana go in the FIFA World Cup?
· Citizen
Will they finally go past the group stages? This is the question on most South Africans’ minds as Bafana Bafana begin their journey at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a clash against hosts Mexico tonight.
This is their fourth appearance in this global showpiece since the end of apartheid.
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Prior to this year’s tournament, South Africa had appeared in the World Cup on three occasions, in 1998, 2002, and as hosts in 2010.
We take a look Bafana’s World Cup record over the years:
France 1998
Having won the Africa Cup of Nations at home in 1996, so much was expected from the African champions in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. But the national team, led by French coach Phillip Troussier, had a disappointing tournament and exited it in the group stages. After suffering a 3-0 drubbing to hosts France in their opening game, they went on to draw against Denmark and Saudi Arabia. The two draws, however, were not enough as the team finished third and thus exited the tournament. After Bafana were eliminated from the showpiece, Troussier accused his squad of treating the tournament like a “holiday camp”. He controversially stated that only five players took the competition seriously, dismissing the rest as “tourists” more interested in shopping.
2002 South Korea/Japan
The 2002 Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup was expected to be an opportunity for Bafana Bafana to step up to the next level but again they came short when it mattered most. South Africa, led by the legendary Jomo Sono, were eliminated at the group stage despite drawing 2-2 to Paraguay and beating Slovenia 1-0 for their first-ever World Cup win. They were edged 3-2 by Spain in their last group match and thereby finished third in their group, losing out to Paraguay on goals scored. After South Africa were eliminated from the tournament, Sono defended his team’s valiant effort. “We did well, we showed guts. I’d like to say, though, that we gave it our best shot, we played some good football but this sort of thing happens,” said Sono.
2010 South Africa
In 2010, South Africa made history as the host of the first-ever FIFA World Cup on African soil. Managed by legendary Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, the team was placed in Group A with this year’s co-hosts Mexico, Uruguay, and France. Fueled by thousands of enthusiastic fans in the stands, Bafana began the tournament with an entertaining 1-1 draw against Mexico. Siphiwe Tshabalala opened the scoring to give the hosts a perfect start to the competition, but Mexico’s captain Rafael Márquez equalised in the closing stages of the match for the share of the spoils. The second game was a disastrous one for the hosts as they suffered a 3-0 loss to Uruguay and they finished the match with 10 men after goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was sent off in the 76th minute. Bafana then caused a shock in their final group match, beating France 2-1 and eliminated them from the World Cup. However, despite the heroic efforts, South Africa became the first host nation to fail to advance past the group stage.