The World Cup presents an opportunity for many countries to gain rare exposure on a global stage. It also gives interested investors a closer look at a market they may have overlooked before the event. But investing in South Africa isn t easy, especially for those looking to do so through a mutual fund.

Investors have shown a willingness to place bets overseas. Last week, they put more money into international mutual funds than they took out, reversing a three-week trend. Market watchers say part of the reason was the attractive valuations in badly beaten-down markets in Europe. Now, as the world s attention turns to soccer, a few strategists are talking about South Africa.

About 450,000 visitors are expected to attend the World Cup, and the games are forecast to boost the nation s gross domestic product by about half a percentage point in 2010. As much as $1 billion will be spent in South Africa during the month-long tournament, according to Larry Seruma, portfolio manager at Nile Pan Africa Fund. He says that individual food and beverage stocks, like SABMiller and Tiger Brands, could benefit.

Telecom stocks and local fast-food chains, like Spur, are also poised to benefit, says Zoran Milojevich, the senior vice president of emerging markets equities at Aurbach Grayson. Milojevich and Seruma say the region which has seen new infrastructure related to the event -- is likely to continue to feel the economic benefits of the World Cup long after the games have ended. So SmartMoney looked for funds with some exposure to the region.

High-performance mutual funds present few opportunities to gain exposure to the market. Morningstar tracks only 21 funds and share classes that have at least 1% exposure to South Africa and meet our other general criteria. We searched for funds that had performance track records over the trailing three- and five-year time periods and year to date that put them in the top 40% of their peer group. We also required that the funds keep their annual expenses nominal. Of the 21, only five were outperforming the S&P 500 year to date. (Through the close on June 10, the S&P 500 was down 2.5% year to date.) Below are the three funds with the greatest exposure to equities in South Africa and five-star ratings from Morningstar.

The results included Hussman Strategic Total Return (HSTRX), a conservative allocation fund, which Morningstar analyst Ryan Leggio says should and does lag in a rising market but is well equipped to take advantage of an unpredictable economic interest-rate environment. Only 5.1% of its assets are in stocks (51% are in cash and 44% are in bonds). Of the assets in stocks, 43% are in industrial materials and 57% are in utilities. The fund has benefited from an 18.8% rise in Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM) and a 9.5% increase in Barrick Gold (ABX) year to date, although it has less than 1% of its total assets in each of those stocks.

A dramatically different fund that made the list, Wanger International (WSCAX), has 94% of its assets in equities. In addition to having 2.5% of its holdings in South African stocks, it has varied regional exposure, with 34.4% of its holdings in Western Europe, 15.6% in Japan, 25.9% in Asia (excluding Japan), and 6% in Latin America. The greatest of its 183 holdings is South Africa-based multinational media company Naspers, accounting for 1.8% of total assets.

The Criteria: The funds on the table require a minimum investment of $1,000 or less. They are open to new money and charge an annual expense ratio under 1.25%. In addition, their performance track records put them in the top 40% of their category over the year-to-date and trailing three- and five-year time periods. They're also ahead of the S&P 500 so far this year. As usual we did not include load funds.