SOLD OUT! Fans are flooding back to watch Bafana Bafana

The success of Bafana Bafana in 2024 has seen fans flock back to the stadiums.

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Hugo Broos’ side will play their final game of the year in front of another huge crowd when they host South Sudan in their last 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Group K qualifier at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday.

Bafana feel the love again all over SA

This follows on from capacity crowds for Bafana home qualifiers in Mangaung and Gqeberha this year.

It is only in Gauteng that attendances have still tended to be poor, as evidenced by the opening AFCON Group K qualifier against Uganda in September.

In June in Mangaung, a packed stadium watch Bafana beat Zimbabwe 3-1 in 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying.

Then in October, the fans flocked to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to see Bafana hammer Congo-Brazzaville 5-0 in AFCON qualifying.

Taking games outside of Gauteng has clearly been a successful ploy in getting the fans to return.

Cape Town last hosted a Bafana game some nine years ago, as South Africa took on Angola in an international friendly in June 2015. Thamsanqa Gabuza and Ayanda Patosi were on the scoresheet for Bafana in a 2-1 win.

The last time Bafana played an AFCON or World Cup qualifier in Cape Town was a home game against Nigeria in September 2014. That game finished 0-0.

Cape Town fans starved of Bafana

No doubt a lack of international football in the Mother City has encouraged fans to buy tickets for Bafana’s game against South Sudan on Tuesday. But there is little doubt that the revival Bafana have undergone under Belgian head coach Hugo Broos has also played a part.

Bafana started the year by grabbing a surprise bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast. They then picked up four points in 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying in June and are currently tied at the top of their group on seven points.

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Broos’ side followed that up by qualifying for the 2025 AFCON with two games to spare. They beat Uganda in Kampala on Friday to move to the top of Group K, where they will stay with a win over South Sudan.