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A team across generations. Build your eleven, then explore the careers.
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A team across generations
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The 330 on the pitch
The duels
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VS
The 33 of South Africa.
Editorial order, with a career scene and sources behind every name.
01
Benni McCarthy 79 caps (South Africa) · 31 goals · Cape Town Spurs, RC Celta de VigoBobo-Dioulasso, 16 February 1998: McCarthy scored in the 8th, 11th, 19th and 21st minutes against Namibia, four goals before the half hour at the Africa Cup of Nations.
ST1997–2012
Benni McCarthy 79 caps (South Africa) · 31 goals · Cape Town Spurs, RC Celta de VigoBobo-Dioulasso, 16 February 1998: McCarthy scored in the 8th, 11th, 19th and 21st minutes against Namibia, four goals before the half hour at the Africa Cup of Nations.
ST1997–2012
02
LR
Lucas Radebe 70 caps (South Africa) · Kaizer Chiefs, Leeds UnitedWhen Nelson Mandela came to Leeds in April 2001 to collect the freedom of the city, he stopped in front of Radebe, said "Ah, Mthimkhulu", then turned to the crowd and called him his hero.
CB1992–2003
03
Steven Pienaar 61 caps (South Africa) · 3 goals · AFC Ajax, Borussia DortmundEverton's thousandth Premier League goal was a Pienaar header against Tottenham on 9 December 2012, scored in the blue shirt he wore for 203 games while he and Leighton Baines ran the left touchline together.
CM2002–2012
Steven Pienaar 61 caps (South Africa) · 3 goals · AFC Ajax, Borussia DortmundEverton's thousandth Premier League goal was a Pienaar header against Tottenham on 9 December 2012, scored in the blue shirt he wore for 203 games while he and Leighton Baines ran the left touchline together.
CM2002–2012
04
DK
Doctor Khumalo 50 caps (South Africa) · 9 goals · Kaizer Chiefs, Ferro Carril OesteThe terraces called him 16V, after the fastest engine on the road, and on 7 July 1992 at Kings Park he settled South Africa's first sanctioned international in decades with an 82nd minute penalty against Cameroon.
CM1992–2001
05
IK
Itumeleng Khune Kaizer ChiefsA scorpion kick clearance on 28 October 2015 is the save Chiefs supporters replay, though the one that travelled further was the David Villa penalty he beat away at the 2009 Confederations Cup.
GK2008–
06
JS
Jomo Sono Colorado Caribous, Atlanta ChiefsA Pirates supporter renamed the teenager Jomo, burning spear, after Kenyatta, and by 1977 he had crossed to the New York Cosmos to share a dressing room with Pelé, Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto. He drove Orlando Pirates' 1974 sweep of the league, the Top 8 Cup, the Life Cup and the Champion of Champions trophy, then bought Highlands Park in 1982 as the first Black owner of a white club and made it Jomo Cosmos, national champions in 1987.
CM
Career sources
Identity and career · Wikidata Q1702701
07
Mark Fish 62 caps (South Africa) · Orlando Pirates, Bolton WanderersThe quarter-final against Algeria in January 1996 was goalless into the 72nd minute when Fish, a centre back, scored the first goal of a night that ended 2-1 to South Africa.
CB1993–2004
Mark Fish 62 caps (South Africa) · Orlando Pirates, Bolton WanderersThe quarter-final against Algeria in January 1996 was goalless into the 72nd minute when Fish, a centre back, scored the first goal of a night that ended 2-1 to South Africa.
CB1993–2004
08
SB
Shaun Bartlett 74 caps (South Africa) · 28 goals · Cape Town Spurs, FC ZürichCharlton were leading Leicester 1-0 at The Valley on 1 April 2001 when Bartlett, on loan from Zurich, hit the left-foot volley that won the BBC goal of the season.
ST1995–2005
09
AM
Aaron Mokoena 107 caps (South Africa) · K.R.C. Genk, Blackburn RoversMbazo, the Axe, led the host nation out at Soccer City on 11 June 2010 and played the full ninety minutes of the 1-1 draw with Mexico that opened the World Cup.
CB1999–2010
11
QF
Quinton Fortune 46 caps (South Africa) · 2 goals · Manchester United, Royale Union Tubize-BraineDeep into stoppage time in South Africa's opening match against Paraguay in Busan on 2 June 2002, Fortune scored the penalty that rescued a 2-2 draw.
CAM1996–2005
12
DB
Delron Buckley 73 caps (South Africa) · 10 goals · VfL Bochum, Arminia BielefeldBielefeld took him for a single season in 2004 and Buckley gave them 15 goals, the return that kept the club up and took him on to Borussia Dortmund.
LM1998–2012
13
JM
John Moshoeu 73 caps (South Africa) · 8 goals · Giant Blackpool, KocaelisporGhana arrived in Soweto for the 1996 semi-final and Moshoeu scored in the 22nd minute and again in the 87th, the two ends of a 3-0 win.
CAM1993–2004
15
SZ
Sibusiso Zuma 13 goals · African Wanderers, Orlando PiratesOn 10 June 2001 at Parken he chested down a pass against Brøndby and hooked it over his shoulder past Mogens Krogh, a goal Denmark voted the best of the Superliga decade and marked with a monument at the ground in 2013.
RM1998–2008
16
TM
Teko Modise 57 caps (South Africa) · Pietersburg Pillars, SuperSport UnitedTwo seasons after being voted the best player in South Africa's second tier in 2006, Modise was PSL Footballer of the Year, and Pirates supporters had already named him the General.
CDM2007–2012
17
AN
Anele Ngcongca 53 caps (South Africa) · Western Province United, K.R.C. GenkNine years at Genk brought him 223 matches at right back, from his arrival out of Cape Town aged 19 in 2007 to a place in the club's team of the decade.
RB2009–2016
18
BB
Brian Baloyi 24 caps (South Africa) · Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi SundownsKaizer Chiefs went to Ellis Park on 1 December 2001 with him in goal and the captain's armband on his sleeve, and Patrick Mabedi's penalty beat Inter Luanda to make them champions of Africa.
GK1997–2009
20
ST
Siphiwe Tshabalala 90 caps (South Africa) · 12 goals · Free State Stars, Kaizer ChiefsThe 55th minute of 11 June 2010 belongs to him: Teko Modise sent him clear and his left foot beat the Mexico goalkeeper for the first goal of Africa's first World Cup. It was nominated for the Puskás Award, and he stands second on South Africa's all-time caps list with 90, having won two PSL titles with Kaizer Chiefs, the 2013 Nedbank Cup, three Telkom Knockouts and Footballer of the Year in 2010.
CM2006–2017
21
SN
Siyabonga Nomvethe 81 caps (South Africa) · 16 goals · Kaizer Chiefs, Aalborg BoldspilklubFour minutes into South Africa's 2002 World Cup opener, Quinton Fortune's free kick dipped and went in off his thigh, not the head he had jumped for, and it beat Slovenia on 8 June.
ST1999–2012
22
AA
Andre Arendse 67 caps (South Africa) · Cape Town Spurs, Mamelodi SundownsBehind Radebe and Fish on 3 February 1996, Arendse kept Tunisia out for the whole final at FNB Stadium while 80,000 people and Nelson Mandela waited for Mark Williams to settle it in two minutes.
GK1995–2004
23
DN
David Nyathi 45 caps (South Africa) · C.D. Tenerife, FC St. GallenOn 13 January 1996 he lined up at FNB Stadium for South Africa's opening match of their home Nations Cup, a 3-0 win over Cameroon, carrying the nickname Going Up from his Orlando Pirates days.
LB1992–1999
24
ET
Eric Tinkler 48 caps (South Africa) · Vitória, Cagliari CalcioHe started the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations final at FNB Stadium on 3 February and came off in the 51st minute, twenty-two minutes before Mark Williams scored twice to beat Tunisia.
CB1994–2002
25
HM
Helman Mkhalele 66 caps (South Africa) · 8 goals · Jomo Cosmos, Orlando PiratesThe terraces called him the Midnight Express for what he did to full backs down the left, and in 1995 he was on that flank when Orlando Pirates won the African Cup of Champions Clubs.
LM1994–2001
26
KD
Kagisho Dikgacoi 54 caps (South Africa) · Lamontville Golden Arrows, FulhamA foul on Ashley Young at Old Trafford on 14 September 2013 got him sent off and gave Manchester United a penalty, and the club insisted the contact came outside the box.
CDM2007–2013
27
KM
Katlego Mphela 53 caps (South Africa) · 23 goals · RC Strasbourg Alsace, SuperSport UnitedTrailing Spain in the third place playoff at the 2009 Confederations Cup, he stood over a free kick 30 yards out in stoppage time and buried it, forcing extra time in Rustenburg.
ST2005–2013
28
SM
Sizwe Motaung 51 caps (South Africa) · Jomo Cosmos, FC St. GallenA South African right back at St Gallen and Tenerife in the late nineties, Motaung had already played the 1996 final at FNB Stadium under Clive Barker.
RB1992–1997
29
Macbeth Sibaya 58 caps (South Africa) · Jomo Cosmos, Rubin KazanRubin Kazan signed him in 2003 and kept him for seven seasons and 131 league games, a South African holding midfielder screening the back four through Tatarstan winters.
CDM2001–2013
Macbeth Sibaya 58 caps (South Africa) · Jomo Cosmos, Rubin KazanRubin Kazan signed him in 2003 and kept him for seven seasons and 131 league games, a South African holding midfielder screening the back four through Tatarstan winters.
CDM2001–2013
30
MM
Mbulelo Mabizela 45 caps (South Africa) · Orlando Pirates, Platinum StarsSent on for his Tottenham debut at Leicester in October 2003, he lashed the equaliser into the top corner, the only goal he ever scored for the club, and Frédéric Kanouté won it late.
CB2001–2008
31
TM
Tsepo Masilela 51 caps (South Africa) · Hellenic, Thanda Royal ZuluSent on for Lucas Thwala at half-time of the opening match of the 2010 World Cup, Masilela was on the pitch ten minutes later when Siphiwe Tshabalala's shot flew in at Soccer City.
LB2006–2013
32
SF
Stanton Fredericks 14 caps (South Africa) · 2 goals · Kaizer Chiefs, S.F. Pierikos KaterinisStiga was what the terraces called him, and in 2003 he scored in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup for Kaizer Chiefs, then the richest cup competition in Africa.
RM2002–2004
33
TM
Thabo Mooki Kaizer ChiefsTsiki-Tsiki was the name that stuck, and he never wore another club's shirt, close to 350 appearances for Kaizer Chiefs across fifteen seasons from his debut in 1994 under Philippe Troussier.
CAM
Career sources
Identity and career · Wikidata Q7708861About this XI
Benni McCarthy tops South Africa's all-time pool, ahead of Lucas Radebe and Steven Pienaar. The 33 covers 3 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 14 midfielders and 6 forwards, with sourced senior international careers spanning the 1990s to the 2020s. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then explore the careers and settle the duels below. Your votes reorder the people's ranking of these 33 in real time.
Who is the greatest South Africa footballer of all time?
The editorial collection starts with Benni McCarthy. Its first five careers: Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe, Steven Pienaar, Doctor Khumalo, Itumeleng Khune. The people's ranking on this page moves with every duel vote and can disagree.
How were these 33 South Africa players chosen?
The collection covers every position across South Africa's football history. Honours, international records and career achievements inform the editorial order. Each entry opens a career note and its sources. Fan votes in the duels build a separate ranking.
Where can I read about the careers?
Open a player page from the collection to read the career scene, club record and recorded honours. The source links show where the available records come from.
Can I build and share my own South Africa all-time XI?
Yes. Pick one of 8 formations, place any of the 33 players onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.