CAIRO – Should Bafana Bafana overcome Nigeria in Wednesday night's Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal clash, the bonus payment for each player will rise to a cool R670 000.
For most of the South African contingent, that amount is roughly (on average) four times what they would earn in a single month with their respective clubs.
As it stands, the Bafana players have already pocketed a tidy sum of R520 000 for their efforts in Egypt, which of course included a famous 1-0 win over the host nation last weekend.
That was after the South African Football Association (Safa) reportedly stood by their promise of paying a R320 000 bonus for making it past the group stage, despite Bafana having scraped through as the fourth (and final) best third place finisher from the six groups.
Now the R520 000 could potentially climb to R670 000 – if Bafana can overcome a star-studded Super Eagles side at the Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday.
The 1996 Afcon champs can take some confidence from their recent clashes with Nigeria: a 2-0 away win in June 2017, and a 1-1 home draw in November 2018, both games of which were Afcon 2019 qualifiers.
The Super Eagles players have meanwhile picked up around R670 000 for their efforts so far, and will get R920 000 each should they make the semifinals.
Overall though the west African nation hold an advantage over Bafana: in 13 matches, Bafana have won just twice, with six wins for Nigeria and five draws.
South Africa have not reached the semis of an Afcon tournament since 2000, when they ended third.
Apart from 2013, when they made the quarterfinals on home soil, Bafana have been eliminated at the group phase in their last five appearances at the continental tournament.
Should Bafana go all the way and win the 2019 Afcon, each player stands to take home R920 000.