JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
(Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Bafana Bafana arrived to a heroes' welcome at OR Tambo International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning following a third place finish at the AFCON.
Despite a 4:00 am landing time, Bafana were met by multitudes in spectators when they landed on South African shores in Kempton Park on Wednesday morning after a gruelling three weeks of continental football.
READ | Doc's plea to SAFA
South Africa returned home with three accolades under their belt in the form of the Fair Play award, a bronze medal and Ronwen Williams' Golden Glove but could go progress no further than the semi-final following a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria.
Broos' men collected four wins from seven matches played during their time in Ivory Coast and also boast the highest winning margin in a single match thanks to a 4-0 hammering of Namibia in their second group stage match.
Have a look at all the images below!
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 14: Fans during the South African national football team arrival at OR Tambo Airport on February 14, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gallo Images (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
The last four is the highest Bafana have reached at the AFCON in 24 years, and a major step forward for a side that failed to even qualify for the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon after losing 2-0 to Sudan in the qualifiers.
The highest Bafana have reached in recent years was a quarter-final finish in the 2019 AFCON in Morocco under Stuart Baxter, where South Africa lost 1-0 to Nigeria.
Bafana's effort in the 2023 AFCON is also likely to seem South Africa climb up in the last rankings set to be published on Wednesday.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!
Get the best in Soccer, News and Lifestyle content with SNL24 PLUS
For 14 free days, you can have access to the best from Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Daily Sun, TrueLove and Drum. Thereafter you will be billed R29 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
