South Africa U-20 head coach Raymond Mdaka has named his final squad as Amajita gear up for the upcoming CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations COSAFA qualifiers, taking place in Mozambique from 18–27 September 2026.
Mdaka announced the preliminary squad on Friday afternoon, with Mamelodi Sundowns youngster Bennet Mokoena and Orlando Pirates starlet Mpho Padime amongst the notable names in the team.
The duo have had promising performances for their respective teams in the 2026/27 campaign after gaining promotion from the DStv Diski Challenge to the Betway Premiership.
Padime played a key role for Pirates as they won their maiden DStv Diski Challenge title last season after netting 10 goals.
After his impressive performance in the reserve league, the highly-rated winger got promoted to the Pirates first team under head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou. Padime has been used as the impact player at the Soweto giants, and he is proving to bring the much-needed creative spark in attack whenever he’s on the pitch.
RAYMOND MDAKA NAMES SA U-20 SQUAD
On the other hand, Mokoena has also starred for Sundowns in the DDC after finishing the previous campaign as the league’s top goal scorer with 22 goals
After proving to be one of the lethal attackers, Mokoena is currently one of the regular players at Downs after making eight appearances across all competitions and scoring one goal this season.
Another exciting player added to the squad is Cape Town City FC star Emile Witbooi, one of the most talked-about players for his dazzling skills. Witbooi’s performances at CT City have attracted interest from Pirates and other teams across the world.
In addition, players such as Fletcher Smythe-Lowe, Lazola Makua, and Takalani Mazhamba remain in the setup after winning the U-20 AFCON title in Egypt last year.
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