2026 World Cup: Benni McCarthy’s Record that Bafana Bafana Players are Looking to Break

South Africa have their work cut out as the 2026 World Cup kicks off on Thursday night when they begin with a tough match against co-hosts Mexico.

The match will be played at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and most of the near 90,000 fans will be cheering the home team, making Bafana Bafana’s job even more difficult.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos selected a squad of 26 and among them, some will be looking to beat a scoring record held by Benni McCarthy that remains unchallenged.

This is South Africa’s first appearance at the World Cup since they hosted the 2010 edition and the first time they have qualified since 2002. In their three World Cup appearances, which also included 1998, Bafana Bafana have never gone past the group stage but there is hope that the Class of 2026 can do it.

To do it, they will need to find the back more often after scoring a total of 11 in their three previous appearances.

That could see McCarthy’s record broken by one or a number of the players. McCarthy is the joint top scorer for South Africa at the World Cup, having scored two goals, same as Shaun Bartlett.

Bartlett, who is South Africa’s second highest scorer of all-time with 29 goals, netted his two goals in one match at the 1998 World Cup in a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia.

McCarthy, Bafana Bafana’s all-time top scorer with 31 goals, netted in two separate tournaments. He scored his first World Cup goal to earn Bafana Bafana a 1-1 draw against Denmark, equalising in the 51st minute after the Danes had taken an early lead in 1998.

The Harambee Stars coach’s second World Cup goal came during the 2002 edition in a thrilling 3-2 loss to Spain. After Raul put Spain ahead, McCarthy leveled the score in the 31st minute. Despite another goal from Lucas Radebe, strikes from Gaizka Mendieta and a second from Raul secured the victory for the Europeans.

With the likes of Oswin Appollis, Lyle Foster, Iqraam Rayners, Evidence Makgopa and Relebohile Mofokeng in their ranks, South Africa have players capable of scoring multiple goals at the 2026 World Cup but whether they will beat McCarthy’s record only time will tell.