South Africa at the FIFA World Cup

Despite a 3–0 drubbing to France in their opening game, they went on to draw against Denmark and Saudi Arabia, the team finished third and thus exited the tournament.

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

They lost out on progression to the round of 16, on goal difference, becoming the first World Cup host nation to fail to advance past the group stage.

Assistant referees: Arnaldo Pinto (Brazil) Merere Gonzales (Trinidad and Tobago) Fourth official: Mario Sánchez Yanten (Chile) Benni McCarthy scored South Africa's first ever goal in the World Cup when he received the ball on the edge of the penalty box before shooting low left footed through the legs of Peter Schmeichel to level the match.

Assistant referees: Owen Powell (Jamaica) Eddie Foley (Ireland) Fourth official: Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru) Head coach: Jomo Sono

A free kick from Quinton Fortune on the left came to Nomvethe and although he mistimed his header, the ball cannoned into the net off his thigh.

Man of the Match: Quinton Fortune (South Africa) Assistant referees: Jorge Rattalino (Argentina) Ali Al Traifi (Saudi Arabia) Fourth official: Jan Wegereef (Netherlands) Man of the Match: Raúl (Spain) Assistant referees: Jorge Rattalino (Argentina) Awni Hassouneh (Jordan) Fourth official: Mohamed Guezzaz (Morocco)

[8] In the final minutes of the match, Katlego Mphela almost scored a winning goal for South Africa, but his shot bounced off the post.

South Africa vs Mexico
Lucas Radebe captained South Africa both in 1998 and in 2002. The central defender is South Africa's joint record World Cup player.
Benni McCarthy is both South Africa's joint record player and joint top scorer at FIFA World Cups. He is the only South African to score at two different tournaments.