Current FIFA Ranking: 61
Highest FIFA Ranking: 16 (Aug 1996)
Lowest FIFA Ranking: 124 (Dec 1992)
Football Team Nickname: Bafana Bafana (The Boys The Boys)
Honours: AFCON (1): 1996
Head coach: Hugo Broos (since May 2021)
Top scorer in qualifying: Jayden Adams, Oswin Appolis, Lyle Foster, Thapelo Morena (2)
Star players: Teboho Mokoena (Mamelodi Sundowns), Aubrey Modiba (Mamelodi Sundowns), Evidence Makgopa (Orlando Pirates)
South Africa have qualified for a World Cup for the first time since 2002 (were hosts in 2010) but are yet to progress from the group stage at three previous finals.
A football-mad country, they had slipped off the radar in recent years but have bounced back following the appointment of Belgian coach Hugo Broos – he led them to third place at 2023 AFCON, their best finish in the competition for 23 years.
Broos was part of the Belgium side that finished 4th at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico – he has announced that he will retire from coaching after the finals.
Previous World Cup appearances (3):
2010 Group stage (Uruguay, Mexico, France)
2002 Group stage
1998 Group stage
