How South Africa have fared in knockout ties at major competitions down the years

[p]Not including games in the COSAFA Cup or African Nations Championship, where they have largely fielded weakened teams, they have been involved in 21 knockout fixtures since their first against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/algeria/nc87N1BR/"]Algeria[/a] at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations.[/p][p]They have won eight of those, to go with seven outright defeats and a further six draws.[/p][p]Of those six ties that went to penalties, they have three wins and three defeats in the shoot-outs.[/p][p]It makes for a pretty even record down the years, with their latest knockout clash the disappointing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/cameroon-zk1uVG2D/south-africa-W2ijYvlr/?mid=A92e36c3"]2-1[/a] loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cameroon/zk1uVG2D/"]Cameroon[/a] in the round of 16 at the Cup of Nations in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] in January.[/p][embed guid="7a3bdda4-4716-4a5a-88a8-e940abb4a35e" url="https://x.com/BafanaBafana/status/2071140858515075428?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]But there have also been some big wins down the years, including beating Algeria, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ghana/nNBjHale/"]Ghana[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tunisia/QqZVYk95/"]Tunisia[/a] on their way to lifting the Cup of Nations title in 1996, beating then-hosts Ghana again in 2000 and perhaps most famously defeating hosts [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/egypt-bejDn7NN/south-africa-W2ijYvlr/?mid=nay1cGxs"]1-0[/a] in the round of 16 at the 2019 continental championship.[/p][p]Their [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/morocco-IDKYO3R8/south-africa-W2ijYvlr/?mid=djlgCKqa"]2-0[/a] win over Morocco at the Cup of Nations in 2024 was also epic in a tournament where their next three ties went to penalties and they only came up short against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nigeria/EBE2Xb3l/"]Nigeria[/a] in the semifinals.[/p][p]Should this game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/x4toKORL/"]Canada[/a] do likewise, they will hope [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-ronwen/lQRX0UzA/"]Ronwen Williams[/a] can summon those same powers of concentration.[/p][embed guid="c4533253-f841-44db-a6f0-0fdb73d41557" url="https://x.com/BafanaBafana/status/2071179145048948877?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Their top scorers in knockout matches down the years have been the late [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moshoeu-john/QgVqdlEt/"]John Moshoeu[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mccarthy-benni/d4ZZqbQc/"]Benni McCarthy[/a] with three goals each, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mokoena-teboho/MFTeufFd/"]Teboho Mokoena[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/makgopa-evidence/riFLkbEo/"]Evidence Makgopa[/a] are the only players in the current squad to have scored in knockout games in the past with two each.[/p][p]Of the 24 goals that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]South Africa[/a] have scored in knockout games, 14 have come after the 70th minute, a high percentage that shows they tend to leave things late.[/p][p]The best goal they have scored is undoubtedly [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/katlego-mphela/bVkL5WTD/"]Katlego Mphela[/a]’s free-kick against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] at the 2009 Confederations Cup. You will go far to see a better one anywhere in the world.[/p]