Cup 2002 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Gold Cup 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Records Aaron Mokoena became the first, and to date only, South African player to reach 100 caps on 31 May 2010, against Guatemala; to celebrate he wore a kit with the number 100 on the back. Players in bold text are still active with South Africa. Most appearances Top goalscorers Victor Letsoalo is the first and only player to have scored a hat-trick for South Africa in his debut in 2021 July 13 List of South Africa hat-tricks Key Competitive record FIFA World Cup Although South Africa has made three appearances in the World Cup, they have not made it past the first round. The team's first attempt to qualify was for the 1994 World Cup. The team finished second in their group, behind Nigeria, who went on to play at the World Cup. Their first appearance was in France 1998, six years after they had been readmitted to FIFA. Despite a 3–0 drubbing to France in their opening game, they went on to draw against Denmark and Saudi Arabia; the team finished third and thus exited the tournament. Korea/Japan 2002 was expected to be an opportunity for Bafana Bafana to step up to the next level, but they were eliminated at the group stage despite drawing to Paraguay and beating Slovenia 1–0 for their first-ever World Cup win. The team finished third in their group, losing out to Paraguay on goal difference. The team failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup after finishing third in their qualifying group. Ghana won the group and progressed to the tournament, while Congo DR finished ahead of South Africa on head-to-head results. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, they beat France 2–1 and drew 1–1 to Mexico, but lost 0–3 to Uruguay. They failed to advance to the round of 16, on goal difference, for their second World Cup in a row and as the first host country to fail to advance past the group stage. FIFA Confederations Cup Africa Cup of Nations *Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil. African Nations Championship record All-time record against other nations As of 27 September 2022 after match against By Federation Honours Africa Cup of Nations Winner (1): 1996 Runner-up (1): 1998 Third Place (1): 2000 FIFA Confederations Cup Fourth Place (1): 2009