South Africa
FIFA #68
Bafana Bafana hosted 2010 and had the entire planet singing with vuvuzelas for a month. They went home in the group stage but it was somehow still perfect. Back now, and this time they want a result.
๐ In the US
Based in the Atlanta area, which has a long and significant connection to South African history through the civil rights movement and its shared heritage with the anti-apartheid struggle. The Bafana Bafana fans here arrive with a deep sense of occasion and a vuvuzela that airport security somehow did not confiscate.
Style
Physical and counter-attacking, using pace in wide areas and direct play to create chances and unsettle organized defenses.
Rivals
Nigeria. The African giant derby carries big-brother energy and pan-continental pride โ East meets West African qualifying battles are always appointment television.
Home Base
South Africa's football story is inseparable from the story of apartheid โ Black South Africans played football while whites played rugby, and the sport became part of the resistance culture. The 2010 World Cup โ the first on African soil โ was a moment of national transformation, even if Bafana Bafana went home in the group stage.
Human Rights
Freedom House
Political rights and civil liberties score (higher = more free)
Reporters Without Borders
Press Freedom Index ranking (lower = more free, out of 180 countries)
UN Human Development Index
Human Development Index score (higher = more developed, 0โ1 scale)
Transparency International
Perceived public sector corruption โ higher is cleaner
ILGA World
Legal status of same-sex relationships