{"id":909059,"date":"2026-05-29T10:18:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/mbekezeli-mbokazi-olwethu-makhanya-make-south-africas-2026-world-cup-roster-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T10:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:18:42","slug":"mbekezeli-mbokazi-olwethu-makhanya-make-south-africas-2026-world-cup-roster-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/mbekezeli-mbokazi-olwethu-makhanya-make-south-africas-2026-world-cup-roster-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbekezeli Mbokazi &#038; Olwethu Makhanya make South Africa&#8217;s 2026 World Cup roster | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<article xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>The African nation has made three prior World Cups: in 1998 and 2002, then as hosts in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>To end a 16-year World Cup absence, Bafana Bafana topped their African qualifying group ahead of Nigeria.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLS\/status\/2059702917070745658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>South Africa: Group A schedule<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>June 11:<\/strong> South Africa vs. Mexico, 3 pm ET | Mexico City, Mexico<\/li>\n<li><strong>June 18:<\/strong> South Africa vs. Czechia, 12 pm ET | Atlanta, Georgia<\/li>\n<li><strong>June 24:<\/strong> South Africa vs. South Korea, 9 pm ET | Monterrey, Mexico<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The 2026 World Cup has expanded from the usual 32 nations to 48 total. The top two teams advance from each group, and the top eight third-place finishers also make the knockout phase (Round of 32).<\/p>\n<p>The tournament, which is co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, spans from June 11 to July 19.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Among the brightest young talents in MLS, Mbokazi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/chicago-fire-acquire-south-african-defender-mbekezeli-mbokazi\">joined Chicago<\/a> from South African powerhouse Orlando Pirates on a U22 Initiative deal ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old center back has become a key starter for the Fire and cemented himself as a key piece for the Bafana Bafana.<\/p>\n<p>Internationally, Mbokazi opened his goalscoring account with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bafanabafana\/video\/7623506254413024520\" target=\"_blank\">long-range golazo<\/a> in the March window. Beforehand, he was a starter at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A Best XI-caliber defender during Philadelphia&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/philadelphia-union-win-2025-supporters-shield\">2025 Supporters&#8217; Shield-winning season<\/a>, Makhanya helped anchor a backline that conceded a league-low 35 goals last year.<\/p>\n<p>Now in his fourth season with the club, Makhanya is eying his first international senior cap with South Africa at this summer&#8217;s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The Union originally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/philadelphia-union-sign-south-african-defender-olwethu-makhanya\">acquired him<\/a> in July 2023 from South African top-flight side Stellenbosch FC.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/mbekezeli-mbokazi-olwethu-makhanya-make-south-africa-2026-world-cup-roster\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Tyisha Culton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer The African nation has made three prior World Cups: in 1998 and 2002, then as hosts in 2010. To end a 16-year World Cup absence, Bafana Bafana topped their African qualifying group ahead of Nigeria. \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 27, 2026 South Africa: Group A schedule June 11: South Africa vs. Mexico, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":909060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149836,149837,2005],"tags":[149834,149835],"class_list":["post-909059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mbekezeli","category-mbokazi","category-soccer","tag-mbekezeli","tag-mbokazi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}