South Africa has produced some really fine strikers through the years. But which of these players scored the most goals for Bafana Bafana? We’re going to be finding out today.
In this article, we’ll only be considering goals scored for the South Africa senior team; goals scored for club or youth teams won’t be considered. Let us now take a look at the top 5 all-time top scorers for Bafana Bafana.
5. Phil Masinga
The former striker retired from professional football in 2002, but he is still in the top 5 for goals in the history of the South Africa national team. He scored 18 goals in 58 caps to put him in number 5.
Now, this next guy has been one of South Africa’s biggest exports, having played all around Europe, including in Serbia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Fans in the country who love football love him and they also love bookmakers welcome offers in South Africa, because they significantly boost wagering experiences.
Anyway, his name is…
4. Bernard Parker
He scored 23 goals in 73 appearances for Bafana Bafana and he won the Golden Boot while representing South Africa at the 2014 Africa Nations Championship.
Parker retired from professional football in 2024 and has since gone into coaching.
3. Katlego Mphela
This is the guy who scored the goal that handed South Africa their first ever competitive win against Egypt.
He, just like Parker, scored 23 goals for South Africa, but we’re putting him ahead because of his better goal to game ratio. He scored 23 times in 53 appearances, which means that he retired with a 0.43 ratio, much better than 0.32 from Parker.
2. Shaun Bartlett
Now, this right here is a true legend of South African football. He was part of the squad that helped South Africa win their first ever AFCON trophy in their first ever outing in 1996. And to make it even sweeter, it was on home soil.
Then two years later, he led the nation to its first ever World Cup tournament, scoring 2 of the 3 goals the team managed in the entire tournament.
In total, Bartlett scored 29 goals for the South Africa first team, so despite the fact that he retired from international football 20 years ago, he is still the country’s second all-time highest goalscorer.
1. Benni McCarthy
Who else was it going to be? McCarthy is arguably the greatest South African to have ever kicked a ball, and it is no surprise that he’s number one today.
Till date, he remains the only South African to win the UEFA Champions League, doing it with José Mourinho’s Porto in 2004. He also won the Eredivisie with Ajax and the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Celta Vigo.
But he wasn’t only good in Europe, he also did a lot for South Africa. He led the team to the AFCON final in 1998 where finished as top scorer and was named Player of the Tournament.
He scored a total of 31 goals for Bafana Bafana, making him the country’s record goalscorer.