South AfricaCounted from the international goal archive — every scorer-credited goal in the matches it covers, 1916 to today. A record of covered matches, not a complete career count; own goals never join a scorer's tally.
Benedict Saul McCarthy is a South African professional soccer coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Kenya national football team. A former forward, McCarthy is the South Africa national team's all-time top scorer with 31 goals. He is also the only South African to have won the UEFA Champions League, doing so with Porto in 2004. In 2026, FIFA cited McCarthy as one of the greatest South African players of all time. — Wikipedia
identity matched to Wikidata · last verified 2026-08-31
In the line-ups
7 appearances in recorded line-ups · 1998–2002The archive holds 7 team sheets naming Benni McCarthy in South Africa's starting line-up, from 1998-02-28 to 2002-06-12.
7 appearances in the starting line-ups the archive holds — not a career total. Our line-up coverage is partial, so a match he played that we hold no sheet for is simply not counted here.
International goals in our archive
12 goals across 8 scoring matches · 3 tournaments · 1998–2005| Date | Opponent | Result | Minutes | Competition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06-04 |  Cape Verde | W2–1(a) | 10' | FIFA World Cup qualification | Praia |
| 2004-10-10 |  Uganda | W1–0(a) | 68' (pen) | FIFA World Cup qualification | Kampala |
| 2002-06-12 |  Spain | L2–3(n) | 31' | FIFA World Cup | Daejeon |
| 2001-05-05 |  Zimbabwe | W2–1(h) | 40' | FIFA World Cup qualification | Johannesburg |
| 1998-06-18 |  Denmark | D1–1(n) | 51' | FIFA World Cup | Toulouse |
| 1998-02-25 |  DR Congo | W2–1(n) | 60' 112' | African Cup of Nations | Ouagadougou |
| 1998-02-22 |  Morocco | W2–1(n) | 22' | African Cup of Nations | Ouagadougou |
| 1998-02-16 |  Namibia | W4–1(n) | 8' 11' 19' 21'hat-trick | African Cup of Nations | Bobo Dioulasso |
Honours
17 team trophies · Wikipedia + Wikidata, community-updated| Team honours17 | ||||
| UEFA Champions League | ×1 | 2003–04 | Porto | |
| Premier League | ×1 | 2011–12 | Orlando Pirates | |
| KNVB Cup | ×2 | 1997–98, 1998–99 | Ajax | |
| MTN 8 | ×2 | 2011, 2018 | Orlando Pirates ·1, Cape Town City ·1 | |
| Primeira Liga | ×2 | 2003–04, 2005–06 | Porto | |
| Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira | ×2 | 2003, 2004 | Porto | |
| Afro-Asian Cup of Nations | ×1 | 1997 | South Africa | |
| Eredivisie | ×1 | 1997–98 | Ajax | |
| Intercontinental Cup | ×1 | 2004 | Porto | |
| Reunification Cup | ×1 | 2002 | South Africa | |
| Taça de Portugal | ×1 | 2005–06 | Porto | |
| Telkom Knockout | ×1 | 2011 | Orlando Pirates | |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | ×1 | 2000 | Celta Vigo | |
| Individual honours10 | ||||
| Scoring titles · 3 | ||||
| African Cup of Nations Top Scorer | 1998 | |||
| Primeira Liga Top Scorer | 2003–04 | |||
| Taça de Portugal Top Scorer | 2005–06 | |||
| Player of the year · 1 | ||||
| African Cup of Nations Best Player | 1998 | |||
| Teams of the season · 1 | ||||
| African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament | 1998 | |||
| Monthly awards · 3 | ||||
| SJPF Player of the Month | ×3 | 2004, 2004, 2004 | ||
| More honours · 2 | ||||
| African Goal of the Year | 2004 | |||
| Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award) | 1997–98 | |||