The benefit of Bafana Bafana's rise on the FIFA rankings will be a favourable seeding for the 2025 AFCON finals.
Bafana are through to their 12th appearance at the biennial competition, doing so after an impressive bronze medal finish at the previous tournament held in Cote d'Ivoire.
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As it stands, all the top 12 ranked nations on the continent have qualified for the 35th edition of the Nations Cup to be played in Morocco from December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026.
These are Morocco (14), Senegal (17), Egypt (33), Algeria (37), Nigeria (44), Cote d'Ivoire (46), Cameroon (49), Mali (51), Tunisia (52), South Africa (57), DR Congo (61), and Burkina Faso (66).
The list of qualified nations from the top 24 ranked nations on the continent then has Gabon (84), Angola (85), Zambia (87), Uganda (88), Equatorial Guinea (93), Benin (94), Mozambique (96), Comoros (103), and Tanzania (106).
Cape Verde (72), Ghana (77), and Guinea (78) are the only countries from the top 24 ranked nations who failed to make it through.
With the AFCON draw seeding based on rankings, this means Bafana will be guaranteed of a place in Pot 2 when the draw is conducted.
Bafana (then ranked in position 65) were in Pot 3 when the draw for the previous tournament was held on October 12, 2023.
This led to being put in the same group as Tunisia and Mali, plus lower-ranked Namibia, who were in Pot 4.
Bafana finished second, then went all the way to the semi-finals, before finishing as third-place play-offs winners.
The date of the draw for the tournament in Morocco is not confirmed but will be done next year, at least three months before the start of the showcase.
CAF will divide the 24 teams into six groups with the top six-ranked nations (including host nation) seeded, which means they avoid playing each other at that stage.
That top six – referred to as Pot 1 – has Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Cote d'Ivoire for now, while Pot 2 features Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso as of the latest FIFA rankings.
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Based on the date of the AFCON finals draw, Bafana could have moved up the rankings with their next two games in March appearing winnable 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin then Lesotho again in September before hosting Nigeria a few days later.
The next FIFA rankings will be released on December 19 with minimal changes expected.