South Africans celebrate in the streets after World Cup advance

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South African players celebrate the 1-0 victory in the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between South Africa and South Korea at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico, on June 24, 2026. (Photo by Julio Cesar AGUILAR / AFP)

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South African football fans took to the streets in the early hours of Thursday, honking vuvuzelas and singing in celebration at Bafana Bafana’s first-ever qualification for the World Cup knockout rounds.

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Playing in a World Cup for the first time since they hosted it in 2010, the team shocked South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday to secure progression, which had seemed unlikely after they lost their opening group stage match 2-0 to co-hosts Mexico.

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As the match ended at around 5:00 am local time, scores of people headed out into the streets — many in their pyjamas — to chant, dance and blow long plastic vuvuzela horns.

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Soweto resident Nandi Ntini told AFP that she was woken up by vuvuzelas and fireworks.

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“There were fireworks outside and the celebration went on for more than an hour after the game,” she said.

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“We are proudly South African, and this is our Cup. We have started it and we will finish it,” said a fan in Johannesburg’s Soweto area in a video posted online by the national broadcaster SABC.

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“We love and support Bafana Bafana,” said another fan, wearing a scarf in the colours of the South African flag around his neck as crowds of people celebrated in the street behind him.

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Other social media posts showed women dancing in their dressing gowns in a Soweto street as people sang “Shosholoza”, a Zulu chant meaning “go forward” that South Africans often sing at sporting events.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the squad’s “inspired team performance” in a post on social media.

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“We remain united and hopeful under our banner that declares: ‘One Nation. One dream. One goal’,” he said.

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AFP

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