BAFANA Bafana might have been elbowed out of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in embarrassing fashion, but Thulani Ngcobo is hoisting the country's flag high.

BAFANA Bafana might have been elbowed out of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in embarrassing fashion, but Thulani Ngcobo is hoisting the country's flag high.

Ngcobo set the new Guinness World Record for the most World Cup matches attended by an individual at a single tournament after watching 21 full matches at this year's event.

The previous record was 20.

Ngcobo set the new world record when Spain beat Chile 2-1 at Loftus Stadium on Friday night.

The winner of last year's MTN8 Last Fan Standing competition won the right to watch 38 Fifa World Cup matches.

Ngcobo submitted a claim to Guinness World Records which revealed that the previous mark was 20 matches.

"I'm really proud to set this Guinness World Record as a South African and to show the world how much we love the game," said Ngcobo, who is from Soshanguve, north of Preoria. "This is the most amazing experience of my life. It's unbelievable."

Veli Mabena of MTN said: "We are proud of Thulani's achievement as this has been a very challenging task."

Ngcobo had a "witness sheet" that had to be signed by two independent witnesses at the various stadiums (spectators sitting next to him) to validate that he watched the full 90 minutes.

Supporting material, such as match ticket stubs, photographs and video footage were also required by Guinness World Records to verify the claim.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Jason Curran, who was in the country to assess Ngcobo's claim, presented the Kaizer Chiefs fan with an official Guinness World Record certificate.