After three friendly international matches against 1990 World Cup quarter-finalists Cameroon in 1992, Bafana kicked off international football with a 4-1 defeat to Zimbabwe in a 1994 African Cup of Nations qualifier.
After crashing out of the 1994 Afcon qualifiers and 1994 World Cup qualifiers, Bafana finished 1993 in 95 position on the Fifa rankings.
During that period, two coaches lost their jobs: Screamer Tshabalala was in charge of six matches, winning only one, losing four and drawing one.
Augusto Palacios was in charge of eight and was fired after a 4-0 loss to Mexico in October 1993.
But the arrival of Clive Barker in 1994 saw the country’s fortunes change for better.
In 1994, ‘The Dog’ won five matches, drew three and lost two, both against Australia.
Bafana Bafana kicked off the 1996 Afcon qualifiers with two wins against Madagascar and Mauritius before earning a vital 1-1 draw away to Zambia.
When South Africa were asked to host the 1996 tournament, after Kenya pulled out, Barker’s team had already earned seven points.
For the first time, in 1995, Bafana finished a year without a defeat when they drew three matches, against Argentina, Germany and Zambia and won four, against Egypt, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho.
Most of the German players who played against Bafana were in the squad that won the 1996 Euro Championships.
After winning the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations in August, Bafana Bafana reached their highest Fifa ranking: 16.
Under Barker the team qualified for the 1998 World Cup, but with Bafana finishing bottom of Group B at the 1997 Confederations Cup – after a 2-2 draw against Czech Republic, 1-0 win over UAE and 4-3 loss to Uruguay – Barker lost his job.
Under Barker’s guidance Bafana played 43 matches, won 22, drew 9, lost 12, scored 57 goals and conceded 38.
Between 1998 and 2002, Bafana finished runners up, in third place, and in the quarter-finals at consecutive Afcon tournaments, and reached the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.
The second Bafana decade under Shakes Mashaba began with a Cosafa Cup win, but the behind-the-scenes disputes over team selection ahead of a World Cup bid match against England in 2003 started the firing and hiring of coaches.
Mashaba was asked to “step aside” for the match and Jomo Sono took charge, with Bafana losing 2-1.
Mashaba was back in charge but refused to take charge of a Cosafa match against Zimbabwe. Conti Kubheka took over for the match, which Bafana lost 1-0.
After Mashaba relinquished his position, Styles Phumo took the helm during the 2004 Afcon in Tunisia, where Bafana beat Benin 2-0, lost 4-0 Nigeria and drew 1-1 against Morocco.
Stuart Baxter kicked off with a 2-0 win over Cape Verde in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. But after failing to qualify for 2006 World Cup, Baxter finished 2005 with six losses and one draw in seven matches and was shown the door at the team hotel in Port Elizabeth.
Ted Dumitru took over on a caretaker basis and his first match was a convincing 2-1 over 2006 Afcon hosts Egypt. But after his team were knocked out of the tournament without scoring a single goal, that team was dubbed ‘the worst Bafana’ at Afcon.
Bafana finished 2006 in position 67 on the Fifa rankings, having dropped 51 places in 10 years.
Brazilians Carlos Alberto Parreira came on board to target the 2010 World Cup, but they exited the 2008 after the first round again.
Joel Santana took over after Parreira stepped down for ‘personal reasons’, heralding Bafana’s darkest period. The team failed to qualify for the 2010 Afcon and shot down the Fifa rankings, and Santana was fired in 2009.
Parreira returned after the 2009 Confederations Cup on home soil, with Bafana looking slightly better, but it all ended in disappointment when they became the first host nation to exit the World Cup in the first round.
The downward spiral continued after Pitso Mosimane took over.
Mosimane’s reign will be remembered for his failure to take the country to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in the most embarrassing way – with the team settling for a draw against Sierra Leone when they needed a win.
‘Jingles’ was dismissed after Bafana drew their first match of the 2014 qualifiers against Ethiopia after 16 official matches in charge – winning six, drawing seven and losing three.
Steve Komphela sat in the hot-seat for the following qualifier against Botswana – another draw – and a friendly against Gabon.
Gordon Igesund, like all Bafana coaches before him, has has fans blowing hot and cold on him throughout his tenure so far. He failed in the mandate handed to him by Safa, but supporters agree that the team is looking much better under his managership.
Igesund’s record so far is won 11, drew three, lost nine.
1994 Afcon: Did not qualify
1994 Fifa World Cup: Did not qualify
1996 Afcon (as hosts): Winners
1997 Fifa Confederations Cup: First round
1998 Fifa World Cup: First Round
1998 Afcon: Runners’ Up
1999 Afro-Asian Cup: Winners
2000 Afcon: Third Place
2002 Afcon: Quarter-finalists
2002 Fifa World Cup: First Round
1993: 95
1994: 56
1995: 40
1996: 19
1997: 31
1998: 26
1999: 30
2000: 20
2001: 35
2002: 30
2003: 36
2004 Afcon: First Round
2006 Afcon: First Round (did not score a goal)
2006 Fifa World Cup: Did not qualify
2008 Afcon: First Round
2009 Fifa Confederations (as hosts): Fourth Place
2010 Afcon: Did not qualify
2010 Fifa World Cup (hosts): First Round
2012 Afcon: Did not qualify
2013 Afcon (hosts): Quarter-finalists
2014 Fifa World Cup: Did not qualify
2004: 38
2005: 49
2006: 67
2007: 77
2008: 76
2009: 85
2010: 51
2011: 52
2012: 87
August 2013: 67
Highest Fifa ranking: 16 (August 1996)
Lowest Fifa ranking: 109 (August 1993)
Best mover: 25 (February 2013)
Worst mover: 19 (July 2006)