South Africa Football Association (SAFA) President Danny Jordaan has credited FIFA's sustained investment in African football for helping propel Bafana Bafana to the FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout stage — the country's first-ever appearance in the tournament's second round.

Speaking after being re-elected to a fourth term as SAFA President, Jordaan extended his gratitude to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Vice President Patrice Motsepe. "Africa has benefited immensely under their leadership," he said.

A continent finally getting its due

Jordaan pointed to a dramatic shift in African representation at the FIFA World Cup. In 1994 — the last time North America hosted the tournament — Africa was allocated just three qualification places. That figure has now tripled to nine spots, plus a play-off berth, allowing 10 African nations to compete at FIFA World Cup 2026. An impressive nine of them reached the knockout rounds.

"Africa showed why they deserved more representation, from Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire… Cabo Verde that captured the hearts of the world, and of course our own Bafana Bafana," Jordaan said.

He described the expanded access as a step towards "addressing football's long-standing global imbalance," and argued that the continent's talent has always been world-class. "Africa constantly and consistently produces the best in the world when we are allowed to flourish. Any programme that enables this will always have support from us."

FIFA Forward funding transforms the game

Central to that flourishing is the FIFA Forward Programme, which has redistributed more than USD 5.1 billion to national and regional associations since Infantino took office a decade ago. Each Member Association received up to USD 8 million in phase 3.0 of the programme — a seven-fold increase from the funding levels of early 2016.

Jordaan was clear that Bafana Bafana's World Cup run was no accident. "That is a development pipeline working," he said — a pipeline built on years of deliberate investment in coaching, infrastructure, and youth development.

Growth at every level

South Africa's progress extends well beyond the senior men's team. The Banyana Banyana, having failed to qualify for their first six FIFA Women's World Cup campaigns, reached the tournament in 2019 and 2023 — going as far as the round of 16 in the latter — and remain in contention for a place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 via the inter-confederation play-offs. They currently sit second in Africa on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking.

At youth level, the men's U-20 side claimed their first continental title before advancing to the round of 16 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 in Chile. The U-17s qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the second time last year, while a U-15 squad will represent South Africa at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan this month.

At club level, Mamelodi Sundowns FC competed at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, won a match, then claimed a second CAF Champions League title and beat Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in last month's FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup. The club now stands one match away from a berth in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final. Mamelodi's women's team, meanwhile, will contest their third African championship later this year — with a place at the FIFA Women's Champions Cup 2027 at stake.

Building the ecosystem

SAFA now fields 12 national teams and has trained more than 3,000 coaches over the past four years. A dedicated focus on women's football has included the establishment of the SAFA Girls Academy at the University of Pretoria High Performance Centre and Clapham High School, funded by USD 1.4 million from the FIFA Forward 3.0 programme, where 25 players currently receive elite training.

Grassroots initiatives have brought FIFA Women's Football Campaign events to girls aged 6–12 across multiple provinces. SAFA also launched an all-female CAF B Licence Coaching Course in partnership with the FIFA Coaching Education Scholarship Programme and hosted Africa's first FIFA Women Coach Educators Pathway Programme in September.

"Beyond our national teams, we have been hard at work on the wider football ecosystem," Jordaan said.