Whether you’re into sports or not, a World Cup (WC) just has a way of bringing people together – especially when it’s your home country. And in South Africa’s case, the country had the privilege of uniting South Africans through sport not once, not twice, but three times.
And apart from England, South Africa is the only country that has hosted three different World Cups for three different sports.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup
The 1995 Rugby World Cup is special for a few reasons. Firstly, it was only the third ever Rugby WC and was also the first Cup where all matches were held in one country. And lastly, South Africa won the tournament with an incredible last match.
The pressure was on for South Africa as it was the first major sporting event in the country after the end of apartheid and it was also the first WC that South Africa was allowed to compete in.
And in the final match between SA and New Zealand, Joel Stransky managed to score a drop goal in extra time to win the match. And to make the momentous occasion even more special, Nelson Mandela, President of a newly democratic South Africa, came out wearing a Springboks shirt and cap to present the cup to the team.
The 2003 Cricket World Cup
In 2003 South African co-hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup with Zimbabwe and Kenya. The tournament was extra special as it was the first of this edition to be played in Africa.
And at the time, the tournament featured the largest number in WC history, which was 14 teams.
South Africa, unfortunately, did not have a victorious tournament and was eliminated at the group stage. Rain intervened with their match against Sri Lanka, which ended in a tie under the Duckworth-Lewis scoring method.
It left the South African team with a bitter-sweet moment as they only needed a single to have brought them to victory and through to the next round.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa really wanted to boost the tourism attractions for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was honoured to host the 19th World Cup. In preparation, a massive rejuvenation of local resources and infrastructure, and cooperation amongst different industries were seen in order to make the best and most vibrant event for the sport.
Throughout the tournament, matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around South Africa. And even though Bafana Bafana did not get very far in the tournament, the whole nation was supporting the team and enjoying the sport.