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11 November 2026 – The South African U23 Men’s National team’s preparations are in full swing as they get ready to face Madagascar in a two-legged Olympic Games qualifier at the Lucas Moripe Stadium...
11 November 2026 – The South African U23 Men’s National team’s preparations are in full swing as they get ready to face Madagascar in a two-legged Olympic Games qualifier at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday (14 November) and Tuesday (17 November).
The South Africans have already had two training sessions in Pretoria with Head Coach Raymond Mdaka emphasizing the importance of these qualifiers.
“We hope to do as much as we can to make sure that we qualify for the Olympics and we have shared with the boys that this could also be a once in a lifetime opportunity they might not get again and at least (being there) is a good representation of who you are as a player, so this is a motivation to the whole team,” said Mdaka.
“Madagascar is very closed book. We tried with everyone (to get information), including our senior team analyst, because Madagascar was not there in 2024 when we were playing COSAFA in Mozambique, and this is their age group. We checked everywhere we thought we could find something, but they remain a closed book. Other than that, we always have a way as the technical team and coaches to at least find something, there will always be a way out.”
Mdaka has assembled the cream of the crop of South African football and has kept the bulk of the team that faced Algeria in two friendly matches in Bloemfontein early last month.
“With the kind of talent that we have, we will always have a challenge, it will always be difficult to come up with your 23 players, but we have a pool. I think that the preliminary group that we always put up is helping us to juggle around, and we always try to find players that are playing regularly, players that have got minutes. Others got injured but at the same time that pool is helping us juggle around,” added Mdaka.
“We are also looking at competence, to say how good are they, and how much they are doing in their own teams. Some of them might not be getting minutes and that you want to justify but at the same time it’s better sometimes to stay with what you know than something that you don’t know.”
The South Africa vs Madagascar clash is one of several around the continent where countries are fighting for a place in the third round of the qualifiers in March next year, which will lead to the CAF U23 AFCON that will feature only eight teams.
The top two nations at the tournament will represent Africa at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2027 – 2nd Round Fixtures:
Madagascar vs South Africa
Equatorial Guinea vs Niger
Burkina Faso vs Zambia
DR Congo vs Nigeria
Libya vs Ghana
Tunisia vs Gabon
Kenya vs Côte d’Ivoire
South Sudan vs Senegal
Ethiopia vs Morocco
Rwanda vs Cameroon
Angola vs Congo
Botswana vs Guinea
Eswatini vs Algeria
Zimbabwe vs Mali
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