Mbokazi Named to South Africa AFCON Squad

The Chicago Fire will be represented at the African Cup of Nations this year. New signing Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who joined the team earlier this month from South African side Orlando Pirates, will represent Bafana Bafana this month at the event.

Mbokazi, 20, is considered one of Africa’s top young talents, particularly among defenders. He made his international debut for South Africa earlier this year and was an integral part of their successful World Cup qualifying campaign, his recent success for both club and country earned him a US$3 million move to Major League Soccer as an Under-22 Initiative signing.

Mbokazi‘s high-profile move has been welcomed both by supporters in Chicago and in his home nation of South Africa as he takes a logical next step in his young career, but reception back home has not been 100% warm. Among the critics of his move to North America are his national team head coach Hugo Broos, who in a controversial press conference last week criticized both the move and Mbokazi‘s professionalism, as well as referring to his agent, Basia Michaels, as “that little woman who thinks she knows football”. Broos also made heated comments that media both in South Africa and overseas interpreted as being racially-charged, resulting in threats of intervention from government officials and political parties.

Broos apologized for the comments earlier today as Mbokazi was named to South Africa’s official squad, and the expectation is that, barring any punishment from the coaching staff, Mbokazi will be South Africa starting left center back.

Though South Africa are not considered to be among Africa’s most elite powerhouses, they still foster ambitions of making a deep run toward the trophy after doing so two years ago. They’ve been drawn into a manageable group alongside Angola, Egypt, and Zimbabwe, which features two exciting matchups against regional rivals from southern Africa, and a head-to-head clash with former Fire target Mo Salah and the Pharaohs

Mbokazi is slated to be a big contributor for the Fire in 2026, and Gregg Berhalter hopes he will be a key player over the next couple seasons at left center back. He will join the Fire’s preseason as soon as South Africa’s AFCON campaign comes to an end.

The Fire have previously been represented at AFCON by David Accam, who made his Ghana debut at the tournament in 2015.