[10] From the earliest days of the sport in South Africa until the end of apartheid, organised soccer was affected by the country's system of racial segregation.

The next annual conference of FIFA in October 1964 took place in Tokyo and was attended by a larger contingent of representatives from African and Asian associations and here the suspension of South Africa's membership was re-imposed.

[16] After spending nearly two decades in international isolation, the South African national team played its first game on 7 July 1992, beating Cameroon 1–0 at Kings Park in Durban.

Under head coach Philippe Troussier, South Africa suffered a heavy 3–0 defeat to hosts France in their World Cup debut, but played credibly against other group opponents Denmark and Asian juggernauts Saudi Arabia, earning 1–1 and 2–2 draws respectively on their way to an early exit.

In the run-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, for which South Africa had easily qualified as winners of Group E, Queiroz left his post as head coach amid increasing behind-the-scenes political wrangling.

Placed in Group B along with Spain, Paraguay and debutants Slovenia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Africa had high hopes of progressing to the knockout phase of the tournament.

This era (1996–2002) of rising soccer prowess saw South Africa blessed with fine footballers such as record-setting goalscorers Benni McCarthy & Shaun Bartlett, defensive hardmen and inspirational captains Lucas Radebe & Neil Tovey, creative maestros John Moshoeu & Doctor Khumalo and defensive stalwart Mark Fish.

A string of victories, albeit against marginal opposition, in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup seemed to instill a sense of confidence in the team as well as the nation.

South Africa played the first game, which opened the World Cup 2010 tournament with a 1–1 draw against Mexico after taking the lead through a long-range Siphiwe Tshabalala strike.

Katlego Mphela would hit the post late into the game as South Africa, buoyed by a frenzied home crowd, so very nearly opened the tournament with a win.

South Africa would also require a favour from Uruguay, needing the Uruguayans to inflict a sizeable defeat on Mexico to aid their chances of progress.

At the half, South Africa had a 2–0 lead thanks to goals from Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela while Uruguay were beating Mexico 1–0 in the other group game.

South Africa made use of a defensive formation as coach Gordon Igesund deployed two deep midfielders in Kagisho Dikgacoi and Reneilwe Letsholonyane and along with the poor weather conditions delivered an uninspired performance resulting in a 0–0 draw.

South Africa delivered a stunning first-half performance, playing at a high tempo to negate the Malians' superior physical presence.

Siphiwe Tshabalala took the first penalty and gave South Africa the lead with a stunningly placed shot into the top left corner.

For the Second round of the qualifying process, South Africa was placed in Pot 1 as a top-seeded nation for the draw from where they were drawn into Group A, along with neighbors Botswana, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia.

South Africa opened their qualifying campaign with a dismal performance, struggling to overcome a one-goal deficit in a 1–1 home draw with Ethiopia, a nation ranked nearly 70 places below them.

South Africa and Ethiopia met in a potential group decider in Addis Ababa on 16 June, with the Ethiopians going undefeated at home in 12 games.

The lead was short-lived as Ethiopia equalised in the 44th minute following a defensive lapse by South Africa when they failed to deal with a loose ball on the edge of the box.

However, following the match it emerged that Ethiopia were under investigation for fielding an ineligible player during their 2–1 win over Botswana and that they could face losing the 3 points and have the result reversed to a 3–0 defeat, as in line with FIFA sanctions.

This, in addition to the various controversies, disparaging remarks that Mashaba allegedly made about SAFA top officials, his supposedly arrogant nature and his ill-treatment of overseas-based stars, led to his suspension after leading South Africa to a 2−1 victory over Senegal in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

After being unable to reach the 2018 FIFA World Cup, South Africa had undergone a systematic reformation and transformation to regain its status as an African soccer power.

South Africa ultimately finished second to Ghana on goals scored, narrowly missing out on qualification for the final 10-team playoff round to qualify for the World Cup.

The prominent Protea emblem, a national symbol of South Africa, particularly in the post-apartheid era, graces the right side of the jersey.

Located on the left side of the jersey, the SAFA badge typically features a star above it, commemorating the team's triumph in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations.

This distinctive logo depicts two stars embodied as footballers on the pitch, offering a symbolic representation of the team's aspirations and achievements.

[47] Following the 1998 World Cup, the kits for all South African national soccer teams were supplied by German sports apparel company Adidas.

[49][50] In October 2013, ABSA announced its resignation as a sponsor of SAFA and the South African national team as of the end of their contract in December 2013.

[51] From March 2014 until June 2020, the official kit provider was the American sporting apparel company Nike from the international friendly match against Brazil.

Ghana won the group and progressed to the tournament, while Congo DR finished ahead of South Africa on head-to-head results.