27 years ago today, Bafana Bafana kicked Afcon campaign with a 3-0 win against Cameroon.
Touchline News looks at the 23-men who won the tournament for South Africa.
Andre Arendse
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 67
After starring in South Africa’s 1996 Africa Nations Cup win, Arendse would go on to play top-flight football up until a month shy of his 46th birthday, making him the oldest player in PSL history.
After the 1996 Afcon, he had spells in the lower leagues in England with Oxford United and Fulham, and would also play for his country in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He was the most capped Bafana Bafana goalkeeper in history until his record was surpassed by Khune.
Roger de Sa
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 1
De Sa was a back-up goalkeeper in the 1996 Nations Cup squad, with his only Bafana Bafana appearance coming in a loss to Zambia in 1993. He enjoyed the great success in the domestic league with Moroka Swallows, Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits University, he who would go on to coach in two spells.
John Tlale
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 8
Tlale was a stalwart goalkeeper for QwaQwa Stars and Mamelodi Sundowns, but had to wait four years to make his national team debut – in 1999 – from the time he was first selected for the Bafana squad. He did not concede a goal in his first six internationals after that.
Mark Fish
Bafana Bafana caps: 62
Fish, the youngest member of the Nations Cup squad, would go on to have a successful career as he signed for Italian giants Lazio. He retired aged 31 after a serious knee injury.
Sizwe Motaung
Bafana Bafana caps: 49
Regarded as one of South Africa’s finest ever right-backs, after the Nations Cup Motaung played for two seasons overseas at St Gallen in Switzerland and Tenerife in Spain.
Edward Motale
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 7
Motale was a tough-as-nails wing-back who the year before the Nations Cup had helped Orlando Pirates win the African Champions Cup. He was never a regular with Bafana, and played his final match for the team against Argentina in May 1995, almost a year before the Nations Cup.
David Nyathi
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 45
After winning the League and Cup Double with Cape Town Spurs in 1995, Nyathi’s exploits at the Nations Cup earned him a move to Tenerife in Spain’s LaLiga. He would go on to play for St Gallen in Switzerland, and also a couple of seasons in Italy with Cagliari.
Lucas Radebe
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 70
Radebe’s career ended in 2005 when he finally succumbed to long-term knee problems. He was a key part of the Bafana side at the Nations Cup, and would also captain his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
Neil Tovey
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 52
Tovey captained the Nations Cup-winning side and, just shy his 34th birthday, was also the oldest member of the squad. The Kaizer Chiefs legend would play for the club until 1999, two years after his national team career ended. After retiring, Tovey went into coaching.
Andrew Tucker
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 9
Tucker had played all of his nine international matches before the start of the Nations Cup Finals, but was in the squad as a defensive cover. He enjoyed a solid career with Hellenic and Pretoria City/Supersport United before retiring in 2001.
Linda Buthelezi
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 27
Buthelezi was a key member of the Bafana Bafana side, starting every match at the Nations Cup bar the 1-0 loss to Egypt in the pool stages, when he was rested.
Doctor Khumalo
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 50
Khumalo played a pivotal part in lifting the Nations Cup trophy. He was an ever-present in 1996, but was left out of the squad for the 1998 Finals in Burkina Faso.
After the 1996 Nations Cup he had a spell away from Kaizer Chiefs at Columbus Crew in the USA, having previously tried his luck in Argentina with Ferro Carril Oeste.
Augustine Makalakalane
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 14
Makalakalane was already a seasoned player by the time the Nations Cup came around, having spent the previous seven years plying his trade in Europe after winning a move from Jomo Cosmos to Swiss side FC Zurich and FC Baden.
But he was in and out of the side, making only 14 appearances in four years with Bafana. The last of those was in the Nations Cup in the 1-0 loss to Egypt pool stages.
John Moeti
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 29
Moeti’s only appearance at the 1996 Africa Nations Cup came as a substitute in the semi-final against Ghana, but the Orlando Pirates midfielder would go on to become more influential for the side in later years, including playing in the Final two years two years later.
He was missed at the 1998 World Cup in France where a broken ankle kept him sidelined. He would also captain the team, including in his final international, a 2-2 draw with Angola in a Nations Cup qualifier in 1999.
Helman Mkhalele
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 66
Mkhalele was a star performer for the national side for seven side seven years after making his debut in 1994. He was used mostly off the bench at the Nations Cup, but was a regular starter at the World Cup two years later.
Zane Moosa
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 5
Moosa started his career at Wits University before a record transfer move to Mamelodi Sundowns in 1989. He also spent a season Greece at Ionikos and in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli.
John Moshoeu
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 73
Moshoeu scored the third goal in Bafana’s 3-0 win against Cameroon on 13 January 1996 and was a key member of the squad. He also enjoyed a successful 10-year career in Turkey, including with Fenerbahce, where he became something of a fan favourite.
Eric Tinkler
Total Bafana Bafana: 46
Tinkler brought some steel and what was at the time some rare overseas experience to the midfield. He started his career at Wits University, but left for Vitoria Setubal in Portugal as a teenager.
He had already been there for over four years by the time the 1996 Africa Nations Cup came around and soon afterwards was signed by Italian Serie A side Cagliari. He later spent five years with English side Barnsley, including their time in the Premier League, before returning to Portugal and ending his career in South Africa with Bidvest Wits.
He was a long-time assistant to Roger de Sa at that club before following his boss to Orlando Pirates in 2012.
Shaun Bartlett
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 74
Bartlett played a key role at the 1996 Africa Nations Cup, with his performances catching the eye of overseas clubs. He had spells with Major League Soccer sides Colorado Rapids and New York/New Jersey MetroStars, FC Zurich in Switzerland and, most successfully, Charlton Athletic in England.
He also had spells at home with Kaizer Chiefs and Bloemfontein Celtic before hanging up his boots in 2009.
Philemon Masinga
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 58
Masinga was a key part of the Nations Cup-winning side – with that win part of his nine-year international career.
After starring for Mamelodi Sundowns in the local league he was sold to Leeds United in 1994, but never quite settled at Elland Road. He moved to Swiss side St Gallen in 1996 before signing with Italian outfit Bari. He finished his playing career in the UAE with Al-Wahda FC.
Daniel Mudau
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 16
Mudau was a prolific striker in the South African domestic game, scoring 172 goals in 390 starts for Mamelodi Sundowns during his stellar career with The Brazilians.
He never quite managed to translate that into the international arena though, netting just three times for his country over a six-year spell with Bafana that ended in 1999.
Mark Williams
Total Bafana Bafana caps: 22
Williams will live forever in South African folklore after netting twice in the Nations Cup Final against Tunisia to hand Bafana Bafana.
The striker enjoyed a journeyman club career that included spells in Belgium, England, Brazil, China and Brunei, as well locally for Jomo Cosmos, Mamelodi Sundowns, Hellenic, Cape Town Spurs, Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows.
*Image courtesy of @Fifa.com