South Africa national soccer B team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The South Africa national development football team, is a development football (soccer) team, which represents South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. The team's main objective is to give international exposure to home-based players, by allowing them to play 'B-level' internationals. Since the advent of the African Nations Championship, the team now attempts to qualify for and play at the event.
| Nickname | Bafana Bafana | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | South African Football Association | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA | ||
| Head coach | Molefi Ntseki | ||
| Captain | Neo Maema | ||
| FIFA code | RSA | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | N/A | ||
| African Nations Championship | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 2011) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (2011) | ||
| COSAFA Cup | |||
| Appearances | 13 (first in 2008) | ||
| Best result |  Champions (2008), (2016), (2021) | ||
Since 2008 SAFA have sent the team to the COSAFA Cup, instead of the senior team. The team has played at one African Nations Championship and thirteen COSAFA Cups.
Player eligibility
African Championship of Nations regulations require teams to be made up only of players from the association's national leagues. As the team is not an official national team, and does not play in FIFA sanctioned tournaments, clubs are not required to release players for matches. Usually the only Premier Soccer League players released are non-squad members. Many players are selected from the National First Division (second tier) and Vodacom League (third tier).[citation needed]
Match status
Matches played by the team are not classified as 'A-level' internationals. Thus caps awarded for matches do not count as senior national team caps. Matches played by the team also do not count towards FIFA ranking points, even when the team plays other countries' senior national teams.
Recent and future matches
2025
| 2 March CHAN qualification | South Africa  | 1–1 |  Egypt | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 17:00 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Free State Stadium |
| 8 March CHAN qualification | Egypt | 1–3 | South Africa | Ismailia, Egypt |
| 17:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Suez Canal Stadium |
| 3 May CHAN qualification | Malawi  | 1–0 | South Africa | Lilongwe, Malawi |
| 15:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: Bingu National Stadium |
| 11 May CHAN qualification | South Africa | 2–0 | Malawi | Pretoria, South Africa |
| 15:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: Loftus Versfeld Stadium |
| 4 June 2025 COSAFA Cup | South Africa | 0–1 |  Mozambique | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Report | Sumbane  73' |
Stadium: Free State Stadium Referee: Arnaud Zafimahatoha (Madagascar) |
| 7 June 2025 COSAFA Cup | South Africa | 2–0 |  Zimbabwe | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium Referee: Thabang Ketshabile (Botswana) |
| 10 June 2025 COSAFA Cup | South Africa | 0–0 |  Mauritius | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 18:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Free State Stadium Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique) |
| 13 June 2025 COSAFA Cup | South Africa | 3–1 |  Comoros | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 18:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Free State Stadium Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia) |
| 15 June 2025 COSAFA Cup | Angola  | 3–0 | South Africa | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Free State Stadium Referee: Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe) |
| 8 August 2024 African Nations Championship | Algeria  | 1–1 | South Africa | Kampala, Uganda |
| 15:00 UTC+2 |
|
|
Stadium: Mandela National Stadium |
| 11 August 2024 African Nations Championship | Guinea  | 1–2 | South Africa | Kampala, Uganda |
| 15:00 UTC+2 |
|
Stadium: Mandela National Stadium |
| 15 August 2024 African Nations Championship | Niger  | 0–0 | South Africa | Kampala, Uganda |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Stadium: Mandela National Stadium |
| 18 August 2024 African Nations Championship | Uganda  | 3–3 | South Africa | Kampala, Uganda |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Stadium: Mandela National Stadium |
Tournament records
African Nations Championship record
COSAFA Cup record
| Hosts/Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Champions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2009 | Fourth Place | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
 2013 |
Third Place | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 2015 |
Quarter-finals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 2016 |
Champions | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
| 2017 |
Quarter-finals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 |
Quarter-finals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 |
Quarter-finals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2021[1] |
Champions | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 |
Quarter-finals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 |
Third Place | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 2024 |
Group stage | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025[2] |
Runners-Up | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 3 titles |
- Before the 2008 tournament, SAFA sent the senior team.
Honours
- COSAFA Cup: 20081, 2016, 2021
- ^1Prior to 2008, SAFA sent the senior national team to the COSAFA Cup.