Bafana Bafana have returned to the FIFA Men’s World Rankings’ global top 50 after moving up to 48th, with only nine African countries ranked above them.
The rise leaves South Africa 10th among African nations and marks a significant improvement for the national team following a difficult period in which they had struggled to remain among the continent’s leading sides.
Their progress has come after a perfect start to Pitso Mosimane’s return as head coach, with South Africa winning all three of their matches under his leadership.
South Africa began the latest run with a 2-1 victory over Guinea before delivering a dominant 5-0 win against Eritrea in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
They completed the international break with a 1-0 victory over Egypt in Cairo. Puso Dithejane scored the decisive goal on his international debut.
Across those three matches, Bafana Bafana scored eight goals and conceded only one. The result against Egypt was particularly valuable in terms of ranking points and helped South Africa climb further up the FIFA standings.
The latest rankings place South Africa among a group of established African football nations, with Bafana Bafana now occupying 48th position worldwide and 10th on the continent.
For South African football, the return to the global top 50 represents an important moment after years of difficulty in maintaining a place among Africa’s leading teams.
Mosimane has therefore made an unbeaten start to his second spell in charge, winning each of his first three games. South Africa will now attempt to maintain that momentum and improve their position further when they next play in November.
Their next fixtures will be a back-to-back double-header against Kenya during the November international break, as part of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign.
South Africa will host Kenya in the first Group D qualifier on Friday, 13 November 2026. Bafana Bafana will then travel to face Kenya in the return fixture on Tuesday, 17 November 2026.
Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 18:00 SAST.
