Bafana's Positive Record Against Europeans At The WC

As Bafana Bafana prepare to take on Czechia in their second Group A match at the FIFA World Cup, Soccer Laduma looks the national team's record against Europeans at the competition.

Bafana Bafana can keep their hopes of progressing to the next round of the World Cup for the first time in their history with a victory over Czechia, to redeem themselves after the opening day defeat to Mexico last week.

Before they take on Czechia, Soccer Laduma looks into how the team has performed against European countries at the competition. What's interesting is that Bafana Bafana's only victories at the World Cup have been against European opponents.

In their maiden World Cup appearance, Bafana faced hosts France and Denmark in their group. They were given a big wake up call by France in their opening match, going down 3-0 to a French side which had the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Didier Deschamps and Emmanuel Petit. Bafana Bafana bounced back when they met Denmark in the following match, collecting their first ever point in the competition with a 1-1 draw against the Scandanavian country. Benni McCarthy scored for Bafana Bafana on the day.

Bafana Bafana's first victory at the World Cup was against a European country, and it was inspired by Siyabonga Nomvethe, who scored the only goal of the match against Slovenia in a Group B clash. In the same edition, Bafana Bafana played against Spain in their final group clash and put up one of their bravest performances in a 3-2 defeat.

As hosts of the competition, Bafana Bafana met France for the second time in their history and got some revenge. It was a France side that was in disarray with controversy surrounding their coach, Raymond Domenech, as well as Nicolas Anelka. Bafana took advantage of this, winning the match 2-1 in their final group game, but it was not enough to send the team through to the last 16. Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela scored on the day.