Thursday 25/December/2025 – 04:09 AM
The Egyptian national team continues its journey in the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations, which started last Sunday evening and continues until the eighteenth of next January, when it faces its South African counterpart tomorrow evening, Friday, in the second round of the second group at the Adrar Stadium in Agadir.
Everything you need to know about the South African national team before facing Egypt
As usual in shedding light on the national teams’ competitors, the official website of the Egyptian Football Association reviewed the present and history of the boys’ team and its most prominent numbers in the tournament, through the following report:
The South African Football Association was founded in 1882 and was delayed in joining the African and International Federations in 1992 after the end of apartheid in the country. It currently ranks eleventh in Africa and 61st globally in the latest International Federation classification.
The South African national team competed in the qualifiers in Group Eleven with Uganda, Congo and South Sudan, and qualified at the top with 14 points from 4 wins, two draws and no losses.
Veteran Belgian Hugo Bruce has led the South African national team since May 5, 2021. Under his leadership, the team played 50 matches, winning 27, drawing 16, and losing 7 times, scoring 84 goals against 50 conceded, while the final list for South Africa in this edition included 28 players, including only 8 professionals.
The South African national team began its campaign in the tournament with a valuable victory over its Angolan counterpart 2-1 last Monday evening, with Oswin Abulis and Lily Foster scoring for it.
The South African national team participated in the Nations Cup finals 11 times, the first in the twentieth edition at home in 1996, and the last in the thirty-fourth edition held in Côte d’Ivoire in 2024, and won the title in 1996 at home after defeating the Tunisian national team.
The South African team also achieved second place in its second appearance in the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso after losing to its Egyptian counterpart. It also achieved third place twice, the first in the third participation in 2000 after beating the Tunisian team on penalties, and the second in the previous edition after it also beat the Democratic Congo team on penalties on penalties.
50 matches played by the South African national team in Alkan, starting against Cameroon at the opening of the 20th edition in 1996, and the last of which was against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the third place match in the 2023 edition.
Benny McCarthy tops the list of top scorers for the South African national team in the African Cup of Nations, with 7 goals scored in the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso, followed by Sean Bartlett, who played 14 matches in the 1996, 2000 and 2002 tournaments, with 6 goals.
