25 September 2026 – The South African U20 Men’s National Team has qualified for the prestigious CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Ghana next year, this after coming back from behind to defeat a stubborn Zambia 4-2 in Mozambique on Friday.
This was in the semifinal of the CAF U20 Men’s Africa Cup Nations COSAFA Qualifiers which come to end on Sunday when Amajita take on the hosts who beat a spirited Namibia 3-0 in the second last four fixture.
In a match watched by the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to the Republic of Mozambique, Dr. J.T. Pitswane, Amajita found themselves a goal down from a Duncan Musialela header as early as the 28th minute.
But with their never-say-die attitude, despite relentless attacks from Zambia, Mdaka’s charges pulled one back through the ever-reliable Steven Mendes, grabbing his fourth goal of the tournament from the spot in the 62nd minute. The goal spurred them on, and they took the lead for the first time in the contest when Oarabile Booysen made it 2-1 two minutes later.
But the Zambians were not done yet. They restored parity with a quarter of an hour left on the clock, this time Jonathan Kalimina with another header.
The script was flipped over in the 84th minute when Amajita were awarded another penalty, with Kalimina turning villain after handling in the box and being red carded, leaving Zambia a man down.
Mendes bravely stepped up and slotted his second of the match and South Africa’s third.
Second half substitute Emile Witbooi secured victory in referee’s optional time with a solo run from just after the centerline to score his first of the tournament.
In the end, Amajita romped home with a 4-2 victory, and Mendes was named Player of the Match, his second award in the tournament after he received the same against Lesotho in the first fixture of the competition.
“What I said to the boys even before we could talk about what to fix, where to improve, I said to them ‘look guys we have got the trophy and we are the African champions, it will be a bad thing for us not to go and defend the trophy because you lose it here, it means you’re not going to the AFCON’. I said ‘put that in your mind but we’re not going to put pressure on you’,” said an elated Mdaka.
“You know our plans against Zambia, we know how they play, two days we were studying them, checking out how they play. Let’s go back and do the same thing, but this time let’s make sure that we put more numbers in the final third, we increase the speed in the final third, because we realize their defenders were waiting for us to load the ball up front. We brought in Emile to come and play right in front of their centre backs so that space they create gives us an opportunity, and indeed it worked for us. But I really appreciate the character of the boys, it’s not easy to come down from 1-0 in this kind of an intensive game and be able to score more goals, that’s a sign of being positive.”
Amajita’s victory now means they are in line to defend both the COSAFA Cup and the AFCON, starting with the former on Sunday at 14h00, while the latter will be held next year in Ghana. 12 nations will take part with the top four qualifying for the FIFA U20 Men’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
Mdaka’s charges’ efforts have not gone unnoticed with SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan conveying his congratulatory message from South Africa and will be in Mozambique to watch the final.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the coach, the players and the support staff for a job well done out there in Mozambique. You have really put the smiles on every South African, not just with the result but how you achieved the result. You showed true character and never gave up even when the chips seemed to be down. Congratulations for a fine run, in the tournament which has seen you not only line up to defend your COSAFA Cup title but also book your tickets to the AFCON. Well done to the whole team and I will be there to we will cheer you on in the final after watching your big brothers Bafana Bafana start their 2027 AFCON qualifiers on Saturday,” said Dr Jordaan.
Zambia and Namibia will contest the third-place play-off which will be precede the final on Sunday.
South African Football: South African clubs frequently participate in continental competitions such as the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
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South Africa also has a women’s national cricket team—they’re currently 6th in the rankings!
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Sunil Gavaskar was out off the first ball of a Test match thrice in his career – Sunil Gavaskar was the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs and he ended his career scoring 34 Test centuries. But did you know he was out three times off the first ball of a Test? The bowlers to dismiss him were: Geoff Arnold (Edgbaston, 1974), Malcolm Marshall (Kolkata, 1984) and Imran Khan (Jaipur, 1987).