Bafana Bafana wins bronze at the African World Cup for the second time in its history (French)
South Africa won third place in the African Cup of Nations, which concludes on Sunday in Ivory Coast with a confrontation for the title between the host country and Nigeria, after defeating the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties 6-5 after regular time ended in a goalless draw on Saturday.
The South African team, led by Belgian coach Hugo Bros, was confident of reaching the final for the first time since 1998 when it lost to Egypt, and the third in its history crowned with one title, which it won in 1996 at home against Tunisia in its first participation after the end of the apartheid regime, especially after the distinguished journey that It saw Morocco, the fourth World Cup in 2022, eliminated from the final stage by beating it 2-0, but lost to Nigeria on penalties 2-4 after a 1-1 draw in regular and extra time.
After being eliminated by Nigeria, Bruce said, "Football can be cruel (especially) when you see the performance my team gave and when you lose on penalties and do not go to the final. It is difficult to digest that. We played a very good match."
𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. 🥉
Bafana Bafana take the bronze medal home! 🔥#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/mwFxDi5tgk
— CAF (@CAF_Online) February 10, 2024
As for the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was crowned champion in 1968 under the name of Congo-Kinshasa and in 1974 under the name of Zaire and ranked third in 1998 and 2015 under its current name, it lost to the host Ivory Coast 0-1.
South Africa beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 on September 12 in a friendly match.
The match for third and fourth place was open, as the two teams went on the attack and had no chance to seize the lead, but luck was against them, and they decided to go directly to penalty kicks, as South Africa missed the first kick through Teboho Mokoena, before Chancel Mbemba missed the fifth kick that could have been. To decide the match for Congo, and Meshak Elia followed suit, leaving South Africa victorious.
The "Bafana Bafana" team won the African World Cup bronze medal for the second time in its history, after clinching it for the first time in the 22nd edition, which was held in Ghana and Nigeria in 2000.
Source: French