With club football in recess to accommodate the latest round 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a couple of Kaizer Chiefs stars have joined up with their respective national squads for the upcoming ties.

Kaizer Chiefs youth academy graduate, Mduduzi Shabalala earned his first call-up from Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos for the fixtures away to Lesotho on Friday, 5 September and at home to Nigeria four days later. Both matches will be played at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein.

The 21-year-old tells www.kaizerchiefs.com, “I feel so good to be part of this team. It is a special moment for me, to see how far I have come in my career. It’s a dream come true for me to play for my country and I am very excited,” adding, “Our preparation has been good, very focused because we want to create history for the people of our country.”

Amakhosi goalkeeper, Fiacre Ntwari has joined up with the Rwanda squad that will travel to Nigeria to face the Super Eagles on Saturday, 6 September before returning to South Africa for an away fixture against Zimbabwe, to be played at the Orlando stadium in Soweto.

Both South Africa and Rwanda compete in Group A of the CAF qualification phase, with Bafana Bafana holding a commanding five point lead over second-placed Amavubi (The Wasps) after six rounds. The group winners automatically qualify for the finals in Canada, Mexico and USA next year.

Meanwhile, Amakhosi are well represented in Raymond Mdaka’s preliminary Amajita squad that will attend a pre-tournament camp from 1-10 September before travelling to Chile to contest the FIFA U20 World Cup from 27 September to 19 October. Goalkeeper, Takalani Mazhamba, defenders Sifiso Timba and Gopolong Taunyane, midfielder Mfundo Vilakazi, and forwards Naledi Hlongwane and Luke Baartman, were all named on the 30-man list, which will be whittled down to the final 23 shortly before the tournament begins.