South African football is producing returns at every level of the national game, and Bafana Bafana centre-back Ime Okon reads the past week’s results as evidence of a system finally paying out. The senior team has opened its 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign with victories over Guinea and Eritrea to move top of Group D, a group that also includes co-hosts Kenya. At youth level, the U20s were crowned COSAFA champions, while the U23s beat Algeria in a friendly to strengthen their build-up toward LA 2028 Olympic Games qualification.
For Okon, the breadth of success is no accident. It is the payoff of sustained investment in player development, and he places the academies at the centre of it.
“I think we are very much headed in the right direction. The academies have been doing well over the past few years, bringing players into the setup and I think, it’s just a true reflection of South African football at the moment and we can only go up from here,” Okon said.
The pipeline is already converting into standing. Bafana have climbed into the top 50 of the FIFA World Cup rankings for the first time in more than a decade, a milestone reached under coach Pitso Mosimane, who succeeded Hugo Broos. Okon wants the team to hold that position and keep climbing.
“It’s really motivating and then you see the teams that are in front of you and you believe that you can actually get more places. You can go more down and it’s very motivating and we just look forward to getting better spots now,” he added.
Meanwhile, the fixture list has grown more demanding in step with the momentum. Egypt, ranked third highest in Africa, await a Bafana side that has also recently broken into the top 10 on the continent, and Okon expects a challenging test.
“As we know Egypt is one of the biggest teams in Africa and as a player you always want to play the best teams, always want to challenge yourself,” he said.
He frames the fixture as an opportunity rather than a burden, and says the mood in the squad matches that view.
“So, yeah man, I think the feeling within the team is very excited to play against them and test ourselves also and to show them what we are about. I think all the guys are really excited and looking forward to the game.”
The gains compound on one another. Academy output feeds the senior setup, senior results lift the FIFA ranking, and youth trophies signal depth behind the first team. The qualifying wins over Guinea and Eritrea have put South Africa top of Group D ahead of the meeting with Kenya’s co-hosts, and the U23s’ victory over Algeria keeps the Olympic qualification build-up on track.
For a squad now operating inside the world’s top 50 for the first time in over a decade, the challenge, as Okon frames it, is to treat each higher-profile opponent as proof of progress rather than a ceiling. Egypt will offer exactly that kind of measure, and the defender’s confidence suggests a group that believes the current trajectory, built on years of academy work, has further to run. More detail on the squad’s outlook is available at https://www.sabcsport.com/soccer/news/ime-okon-upbeat-about-south-african-football-after-positive-week, where Okon lays out why he believes the direction of travel is firmly upward.