South Africa is participating in their 10th Africa Cup of Nations tournament since re-admission to international football in 1992.
Their first appearance which was in 1996 saw Bafana Bafana win their only continental title when they beat Tunisia 2-0 on home soil, but it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s where Bafana offered real competition to their continental rivals as they finished as runners-up and finished third in 1998 and 2000 respectively.
Bafana failed to qualify in 2010 and 2012, and again in 2017, but did feature in 2015 when they fell at the first hurdle despite qualifying in style under Shakes Mashaba.