The South African Football Association (SAFA) and French sportswear brand Le Coq Sportif have announced the conclusion of their five-year partnership, set to officially end in December 2025. “Launched just prior to the global pandemic, the collaboration has been defined by landmark achievements and powerful moments in South African football ” noted SAFA. “Together, SAFA and Le Coq Sportif celebrated Banyana Banyana’s historic victory at the 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and their qualification for the 2023 FIFA…

Africa’s top-ranked countries will represent the continent in next year’s FIFA World Cup. As the CAF qualifying campaign concluded on Tuesday, most of the countries that qualified were favourites from the onset to win their groups, except Cape Verde, which edged Cameroon in Group D. Seven of the top 10 countries on the continent, in terms of FIFA rankings, have qualified for the global showpiece: Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Tunisia. Only two countries outside the…

South Africa’s senior national football team, Bafana Bafana, is heading to America for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Despite losing three points for fielding an ineligible player during their qualifying campaign, Hugo Broos’s men were still good enough to seal qualification ahead of the West Africans, Nigeria and Benin. Bafana Bafana finished the job with a 3-0 home victory against Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday evening, with Thalente Mbatha, Oswin Appollis and Evidence Makgopa on the scoresheet. Approximately 25…

The last time Cassius Mailula played for South Africa’s senior national team Bafana Bafana was against Liberia in March 2023, when he was still in the books of Mamelodi Sundowns. Since then, the 24-year-old has been snubbed by Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, and with good reason, because Mailula has been battling at club level. A move to Major League Soccer (MLS) side Toronto FC has not worked out for him, and a loan stint at Wydad Casablanca last season…

Beatrice Chebet, Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have all been shortlisted for the 2025 Track Athlete of the Year World Athletics awards. World Athletics has confirmed the nominees for Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and Men’s Track Athlete of the Year. There are five nominees for these two categories, and a vote will take place to identify the two finalists for each. “The nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved during another memorable year for the sport, which…

Cape Verde has become the second-least populous country to qualify for the FIFA World Cup after Iceland. Home to 600 000 people, Cape Verde booked their spot after topping Group D, ahead of Cameroon, who have a population of approximately 29 million. The island nation will compete at the global showpiece for the first time. They beat Eswatini 3-0 in the capital, Praia, on Monday to confirm the top spot. After a tense first half against Eswatini, they turned on…

Bafana Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams has insisted that qualifying for next year’s World Cup is certainly mission possible. Williams, who is now on 55 caps, is the longest-serving member of the team and, based on past experiences, believes the time is now after missing qualification for the 2014, 2018, and 2022 global editions. “I still feel everything is working out in our favour. I believe in fairy tales. If I remember well, 12 years ago, we had our calculators out…

Ghana became the fifth African nation to qualify for the FIFA 2026 World Cup as they confirmed first spot in Group I on Sunday. The Black Stars sealed qualification after beating Comoros 1-0 in Accra. The West Africans will join Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, among the countries that have already qualified, with more to be confirmed on Tuesday. Ghana have completed their remarkable resurgence after failing to qualify for the 2025 African Cup of Nations. In November 2024, the…

North Africans Morocco will feature in the FIFA U20 World Cup for the first time in 20 years after overcoming the United States of America in the quarterfinals played on Sunday. Morocco’s fairytale campaign continued as they proved too strong for the USA in Rancagua, Chile, winning the match 3-1. The last time Morocco reached the semis was in 2005, but then they missed 11 editions of the tournament before qualifying for the current edition in South America. The USA…

Nigeria’s senior football team, the Super Eagles, have touched down in Uyo, where they will host Benin in their final match of the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. The Super Eagles were in South Africa, where they beat Lesotho 2-1 in Polokwane on Friday, but after a refueling stop in Angola on their way back home, there was trouble in the air. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) stated that a cracked windscreen of the chartered ValueJet Airline aircraft…