South Africa

Nickname: Bafana-Bafana (The Boys)
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 83

South Africa qualified for the World Cup automatically as they are the host nation. They come into these games ranked 83rd in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, which is the second lowest ranking of any of the 32 teams that qualified for the World Cup. They were placed into Group A with Mexico (ranked 17th), Uruguay (ranked 16th) and France (ranked 9th).

This is South Africa’s third appearance in the World Cup, and they’ve only won one game before this. Most experts do not predict them to come out of their group; however, most agree that if the country comes together behind them they could feed off that support and play above themselves. During last year’s Confederation Cup South Africa did just that and was narrowly beaten by eventual champions Brazil in the semifinals. They did, however, follow up that victory by failing to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, which leaves many wondering what to expect from this team.

Coach

Bafana-Bafana is coached once again by Carlos Alberto Parreira, who took over the reigns recently in hopes to work wonders with this inconsistent team. Parreira definitely has the experience, as the Brazilian-born coach has already led his home nation of Brazil to the top during the 1994 World Cup in the US.

Key Players

Bafana-Bafana are led by midfielder Steven Pienaar, who is known for his creativity and pace. He currently plays in the English Premier League for Everton. He is definitely the key to any hopes that South Africa have of success in the World Cup, and, happily for them, he has been playing well for Everton this season.