South Africa have been one of the powerhouses of the continent for much of the last two decades, but have fallen on tougher times of late.
They were winners of the African Nations Cup in 1996 on home soil, hut were unable to repeat the feat when the hosted the tournament again in 2013.
The man tasked with taking them back to the top of the pile in Africa is coach Ephraim Mashaba.
South Africa’s Cosafa Cup record
South Africa are one of only two Cosafa member countries to have won the African Nations Cup title, doing so on home soil at their first attempt in 1996. Zambia joined them with their 2012 success.
South Africa were runners-up in Burkina Faso two years later and finished third at the 2000 Nations Cup tournament in Ghana and Nigeria. Bafana Bafana have also qualified for three World Cups, competing in France in 1998 and South Korea in 2002. They also hosted the tournament in 2010.
They also won the Afro-Asian Nations Cup, beating Asian champions Saudi Arabia over two legs in 1999. They also hold the distinction of being the only southern African country to provide a winner of an African club competition with Orlando Pirates taking the African Champions Cup in 1995 and Kaizer Chiefs the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 2001.
But despite all that success, South Africa reached the final of Cosafa Castle Cup for the first time in 2002, winning the trophy with a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Malawi in the two-legged final.
After more barren years, they have also claimed the last two tournaments, beating old foes Zambia on penalties in the final in 2007, and running out victorious in 2008, despite fielding an unofficial ‘President’s XI’ line-up that included players mostly from the second tier of South African football.
They repeated that squad mix in Zimbabwe in 2009, but ended up finishing fourth after losing to Mozambique in the third-place playoff.
ˆ€*They went one better with a third-place finish in Zambia in 2013, but were disappointing ousted by Botswana in the quarterfinals on home soil in 2015 and then lost in the Plate semifinals to Malawi.
Overall Cosafa Cup record:
P W D L GF GA
35 18 11 6 42 19
Honours: 1996 African Nations Cup winners; 1997 Afro-Asian Nations Cup winners; 2002, 2007, 2008 Cosafa Castle Cup winners.
FIFA ranking: 70
CAF ranking: 15
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