For the first time in 10 years, South Africa’s U17 side, Amajimbos, has qualified for the FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Qatar later this year.

Amajimbos’ maiden appearance at the global showpiece was at the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup, which was hosted by Chile, where they were guided by Molefi Ntseki. They suffered a group stage exit.

The current generation is thus the only second group to qualify for the World Cup.

Amajimbos secured their place after finishing second to Burkina Faso in Group B at the ongoing U17 Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament is hosted by Morocco.

Vela Khumalo’s boys lost 2-0 to Burkina Faso on Sunday but still managed to go through to the Afcon quarter-finals after picking up four points by beating Egypt 4-3 and playing to a goalless draw against Cameroon in their first two matches.

Amajimbos are set to face the hosts Morocco in the last eight on Thursday, 10 April.

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos reminded the boys even before qualifying that the World Cup is where they’d rather be.

“World Cup is the highest level; you play with the best teams in the world, and those teams and those games will help you to become a better player. It can be the first step to realizing your dream of becoming a professional player for a big team in South Africa and maybe later becoming a player for a big team in Europe. So, it is important, so I wish you all the best for that,” said Broos.

The current SA U17 side is brimming with talent with the likes of Emile Witbooi (Cape Town City), Neo Bohloko (Kaizer Chiefs), Kamohelo Maraletsi, and Selwyn Stevens (both Mamelodi Sundowns), just to mention a few.