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Let's get our act together!

Soccer Laduma

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October 30, 2025

Just last week we were singing the praises of how South African football was in a good space and that things were really looking up, especially after Bafana Bafana's qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be staged in North America.

- VeeJay

With our national U17s also going to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and having just watched our national U20 doing us proud in Chile, where they reached the Last 16 of their World Cup. However, it is amazing how these things pan out sometimes because, just last week, Banyana Banyana quietly jetted out of the country to go and face DR Congo in the 2026 CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, where they played to a one-all draw without their head coach, Desiree Ellis, who is still without a contract as the national team coach. The former Banyana skipper has been operating on a month-to-month basis since July 2024 after the expiry of her contract. According to media reports, Ellis and the Association have not been able to meet each other halfway during the negotiations of the new contract, leading to her missing the trip to Kinshasa as her future still hangs in the balance. Her assistant, Thinasonke Mbuli, had to hold the fort in coach Des' absence.

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