France vs South Africa: Previous Meetings Between Les Bleus and Bafana Bafana

• Reigning world champions France take on South Africa in an international friendly match tonight in Lille
• The nations have met on four previous occasions, with two coming at the FIFA World Cup, coincidentally hosted by each country
• Les Bleus boasts two victories to Bafana Bafana's solitary win, which happened at the historic 2010 FIFA World Cup in Mzansi

France 2-1 South Africa, International friendly, 11 October 1997

The first time Bafana Bafana took on France was in late 1997 at the Stade de France in Paris. Shaun Bartlett put South Africa in the lead, before Stéphane Guivarc'h and Ibrahim Ba rallied France to overcome the visitors.

France 3-0 South Africa, FIFA World Cup, 12 June 1998

The next time the two nations was at the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France. It was the opening match of Group C at the Stade de Velodrome in Marseille, were Christian Dugarry's header, a Pierre Issa own goal and Thierry Henry's 90th minute goal saw the future world champions swatted aside an inexperienced Bafana team in its inaugural global event.

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South Africa 0-0 France, International friendly, 07 October 2000

Bafana and Les Bleus then met for the first time on African soil two years later at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The French were the reigning world and European champions, in the conversation as one of the greatest international teams ever. The home side put in one of its finest performances ever since readmission, holding the formidable visitor to a goalless draw in a match they should have won.

France 1-2 South Africa, FIFA World Cup, 22 June 2010

Bafana registered its first ever win over France was on the biggest stage in South Africa's finest sporting hour, the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The French camp was in disarray, while South Africa needed a big win to advance from Group A - avoiding the ignominy of becoming the first hosts to be eliminated at this stage of the tournament. They actually could have, besieging a demoralised France team, but only defeating them 2-1 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela gave the 'away' team a 2-0, before Florent Malouda pulled one back as both teams crashed out of the tournament.

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Hugo Broos talks Bafana squad for France encounter, promises to mix it up against the reigning world champions

Bafana Bafana are looking forward to their second international friendly against France, and Hugo Broos has promised that there will be a new-look team.

As reported on Sports Brief, Bafana took on Guinea last week in an entertaining encounter that ended goalless.

Bafana dominated proceedings but could not capitalise on their opportunities. Broos said that he was aware of the poor finishing during the game but didn’t want to dwell on it too much.