Football: South Africa Holds World's Longest Current Unbeaten Streak
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Bafana Bafana’s Unbeaten Run Under Hugo Broos
While South Africa are one of the most prominent countries on the African continent, their sports teams (barring the Springboks) have largely underperformed expectations, particularly the nation's football team, whose last appearance at a World Cup was in 2010 when they hosted the tournament.
However, that appears to be changing, as Bafana Bafana are now one of the most in-form teams in football across the globe and look set to qualify for the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted in the US, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
Bafana Bafana moved five points clear at the top of Group C in their CAF World Cup qualification section with back-to-back wins over Lesotho and Benin earlier this month - results which took the team’s active unbeaten record to 18 matches dating back to their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final loss to Nigeria.
Under the guidance of Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, South Africa have racked up 10 wins and seven draws during their unbeaten streak, which included holding the likes of African powerhouses Egypt, Algeria and the Super Eagles to draws in the last year, while dispatching most nations ranked below them according to FIFA’s rankings.
Since Broos arrived in South Africa in May 2021 following short stints as the manager of Cameroon and caretaker boss to Belgian outfit Oostende, he has overseen 47 matches, securing 24 wins, 17 draws and just six losses, giving him an unbeaten rate of 87% - the highest in his managerial career.
To put the Belgian manager’s record into perspective, South Africa’s 18-match streak without defeat in all competitions, which includes penalty shootouts, is only matched by Spain, who have won the European Championship and have made the semi-final of the UEFA Nations League during their current unbeaten run.
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Administrative Error Could Impact South Africa’s Momentum
While the improvements South Africa have made over the last 24 months have been evident in their results, the team does now face a potential issue after an administrative error in their most recent World Cup qualifiers - more specifically, their 2-0 win over Lesotho which took them to the top of their group on March 23.
Against Likuena, Bafana Bafana named Teboho Mokoena on their teamsheet, and the midfielder participated in the match. However, Mokoena was ineligible to play having received two yellow cards during qualifying, which would have forced him to serve a one-match suspension.
Following the match, Lesotho filed a formal complaint to CAF and FIFA regarding Mokoena’s participation, and the matter is currently under investigation. Should the complaint be upheld, Bafana Bafana could be docked the three points they earned against the Crocodiles, which would see their lead at the summit of the group trimmed to just two points.
CAF qualifiers will resume in September, and you can find all our World Cup 2026 predictions right here on SportyTrader!
