Bafana Bafana

The national side became adored as Bafana Bafana translated as "The Boys” and success followed success. Huge waves of support rippled across the country, and a culture was born.

In May 1994, on the very day of his inauguration as President, Nelson Mandela significantly broke away from official celebrations to join an 80 000 crowd at a friendly match between South Africa and Zambia at Ellis Park Stadium. He was ecstatically introduced to both teams during a 35-minute halftime interval, and inevitably, riding a wave of national joy, South Africa won 2-1.

Within a year, Orlando Pirates had won the African Champions Cup, heroically beating ASEC Mimosa in Abidjan. The year 1996 proved to be Bafana Bafana's best season to date, with the Boys losing only two games out of thirteen (against Egypt and world champions Brazil in the Nelson Mandela Inaugural Challenge), and lifting their FIFA world ranking from 109th in 1993 to an all-time high of 16th in August 1996.

South Africa hosted Africa's premier soccer event, the African Cup of Nations Finals, for the first time and the national team won the competition on its first appearance at the event. Also in 1996, Bafana Bafana started their long campaign to qualify for the '98 World Cup Finals with two victories against Malawi in a preliminary round, followed by a 1-0 victory over Zaire in the second round in Johannesburg.

1997 saw Bafana Bafana in action against the leading football nations of the world, including England, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Brazil, in friendly internationals which formed part of their '98 World Cup campaign. Fittingly, Bafana Bafana made their debut in Europe against England. This match attracted the second highest Audience Ratings for any televised show to date.

A landmark date in local football history was recorded on 16 August 1997 when Bafana Bafana beat Congo 1-0 at Soccer City to become the first ever Southern African country to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals (France '98). As African champions, Bafana Bafana represented the continent in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia, marking South Africa's first appearance on the Asian continent.

En route to the World Cup Finals Bafana Bafana, captained by Lucas Radebe, competed for the first time in South America where they were hosted by Argentina. In France the team produced an admirable performance under coach Philippe Trousier in South Africa's World Cup debut, finishing third in their group after drawing against Denmark and Saudi Arabia and losing to hosts and eventual world champions France.

This information was provided by the South African 2010 Local Organising Committee.

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