South Africa isn't exactly a global footballing giant. The country has only ever reached the World Cup finals on 3 occasions (with one of those being the self-hosted - and thus automatic qualification - event in 2010).
The national team has only ever won the African Nations once (in 1996) and is currently ranked 70th in the world by FIFA - below El Salvador, Iraq, Albania and North Macedonia. Gamblers may want to stick to real money online casinos rather than betting on South Africa reaching the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar!
One thing which South Africa does do well though is build stadiums - big beautiful impressive football stadiums. Here's a run down of 3 of the biggest and best stadiums in the country.
Also known as First National Bank stadium or simply "Soccer City", FNB stadium was first opened in 1989. It is the home of the South African Premier league side Kaizer Chiefs and the occasional home of the national team.
At a capacity of almost 95,000 Soccer City is the latest stadium in Africa, although capacity was capped to just under 85,000 for the 2010 World Cup where it hosted 8 matches including Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final.
FNB stadium was also where Nelson Mandela made his first public appearance in Johannesburg after his release from prison in 1990 as well as the venue for his memorial after his death in 2013.
Ellis Park is currently known as Emirates Airline Park and is also located in the country's largest city, Johannesburg. This 62,500 capacity venue was first opened in 1928 and has a long history of association football, although no soccer team is currently located there.
Ellis Park hosted 7 matches at the 2010 World Cup, including Italy's shock defeat to Slovakia in the group stages and Spain 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the quarter-finals.
The South African national team and friendly matches featuring touring European giants including Manchester United and Arsenal.
Also known as Green Point Stadium, this 55,000 seat arena arena was first opened in 2009 at a cost of over $600m. It is equipped with a fantastic in stadium wi-fi system, meaning fans can quickly get the latest news or use websites like https://www.toponlinecasinos.co.za whilst in the ground.
It is home to South African Premier League clubs Ajax Cape Town and Cape Town City and is located right on the waterfront, at the foot of the famous table mountain.
The stadium was built for the 2010 World Cup where it hosted 8 matches including England's drab 0-0 draw against Algeria, Portugal's 7-0 demolition of North Korea and the Netherlands' 3-2 semi-final victory over Uruguay.
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