From Masinga's magic to moments of madness: Highs and lows of Bafana's World Cup qualifiers

The FIFA World Cup qualifiers have not been kind to Bafana Bafana. 

In 1998, Joe Mafela and TKZee gave the country two classical songs to celebrate Bafana's first ever qualification for the global showpiece. The late Mafela got us chanting in excitement about us going to France. The legendary kwaito super group TKZee gave Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy a chance to dazzle with the microphone like he did with the ball. The result was Shibobo. 

But over the years, Bafana have made us sing the blues with failure after failure. In seven attempts to qualify for the global showpiece, Bafana have only been successful two times since readmission in 1992.

The 1998 World Cup marked the ceiling for Bafana who were African champions two years before and finished as runners-up in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that year. After the 2002 showpiece in South Korea and Japan – things went downhill with the team only qualifying for the 2010 World Cup on the ticket of being the hosts.

As Bafana start another World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday against Benin, we look at the highs and the lows of the country's senior football national team. 

HIGHS 

Masinga's magic

The late Phil Masinga had the legs of a giraffe and the heart of a lion. He was gangly and gritty.

Masinga gave his country some unforgettable moments, even though at times South Africa didn't appreciate him – with a section of supporters booing Masinga. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Masinga showed his class and killer instinct in front of goals.

The former Leeds United forward scored four of the seven goals Bafana netted in a group the featured the then Zaire (now Congo-Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. 

Most South Africans remember the last