Five top Bafana Bafana debutants

There are no less than five players who could make their debut for Bafana Bafana in Saturday’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Benin in Durban as coach Hugo Broos grapples with injuries and absentees.

Left-back Bradley Cross, centre-back Thapelo Xoki, midfielder Jayden Adams, winger Elias Mokwana and playmaker Oswin Appollis are the uncapped players that could make their bow.

Can they take their chance if it comes? We look at five players who made a stunning impact on debut for the national side and had a game to remember in their maiden cap.

JOHN ‘SHOES’ MOSHOEU

Match: v Botswana, 1993

Moshoeu had just returned from a broken leg that kept him out of Bafana’s early internationals and was given a first run in a friendly against Botswana.

He was already 27 and no spring chicken but ran the show with a mesmerizing performance that included a goal and left the Zebras fans in the stadium in Gaborone in awe.

The performance would be repeated many times in a Bafana shirt, but it was an excellent way to start. He would earn 73 caps in all, playing his last match at the age of 38 at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

When talking about South Africa’s greatest ever players, the late Moshoeu is right up near the top of the list.

MBULELO MABIZELA

Match: v Egypt, 2001

Mabizela made football look too easy and his Bafana Bafana debut was the perfect example as he bossed Egypt in an international friendly in Johannesburg.

He had only just turned 21 but looked like a seasoned veteran at right-back in a defensive line that included Bradley Carnell on the left, and the centre-back pairing of Aaron Mokoena and Pierre Issa.

He was the stand-out performer in a team of stars under coach Carlos Queiroz and while the result mattered little in the