South Africa national under-20 football team

The South Africa national under-20 football team, is a youth football (soccer) team, which represents South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. The team's main objectives are to qualify and play at the African Youth Championship and FIFA U-20 World Cup. The team has played at seven African Youth Championships and three FIFA U-20 World Cups.

South Africa under-20

Nickname(s)	Amajita (The Boys)
Association	South African Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	COSAFA
Head coach	Helman Mkhalele
FIFA code	RSA
First colours Second colours
First international
South Africa 2–0 Swaziland (Somholo, Swaziland; 11 December 1993)[1]
Biggest win
South Africa 8–0 Lesotho (Moruleng, South Africa; 7 December 2016)
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1997)
Best result	Second Round, 2009

History

The team was started in 1993, when SAFA decided to form an under-20 team. The team's greatest achievements to date include a second-place finish at the 1997 African Youth Championship, hosted in Morocco and qualifying for the 1997, 2009 and 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cups in Malaysia, Egypt and South Korea.

Player eligibility

Players who are selected, will be 20 or younger in the following World Cup year. With the next FIFA U-20 World Cup being held in South Korea in 2017, players need to have been born on or after 1 January 1997.

Schedule and Recent Results

The following is a list of matches from the past twenty-four months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Date	Team	Result	Score	Competition	Location
12 December 2016	Botswana	W	1-0	2016 COSAFA U-20 Cup	Moruleng Stadium, Moruleng, South Africa
14 December 2016	Angola	W	5-0	2016 COSAFA U-20 Cup Semi-final	Moruleng Stadium, Moruleng, South Africa
16 December 2016	Zambia	W	2-1	2016 COSAFA U-20 Cup Final	Moruleng Stadium, Moruleng, South Africa
12 February 2017	Zambia	L	1-2	Friendly	Nkoloma Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia
19 February 2017	Mali	D	1-1	Friendly	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Limpopo, South Africa
27 February 2017	Cameroon	W	3-1	2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia
2 March 2017	Senegal	L	3-4	2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia
5 March 2017	Sudan	W	3-1	2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia
8 March 2017	Zambia	L	0-1 (a.e.t.)	2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Semi-final	National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia
12 March 2017	Guinea	L	1-2	2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia

Current squad

The following 21 players were selected for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Poland between 23 May – 15 June 2019.[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	GK	Kopano Thuntsane	30 October 1999	Orlando Pirates
2	DF	Keenan Abrahams	27 May 1999	Ajax Cape Town
3	DF	Givemore Khupe	20 December 1999	Cape Umoya
4	DF	Malebogo Modise	6 February 1999	Mamelodi Sundowns
5	DF	Sibusiso Mabiliso	14 April 1999	AmaZulu
6	DF	Fezile Gcaba	3 March 1999	Orlando Pirates
7	MF	Promise Mkhuma	24 May 2000	Mamelodi Sundowns
8	MF	Njabulo Blom	11 December 1999	Kaizer Chiefs
9	MF	Oswin Appollis	25 August 2001	SuperSport United
10	FW	Lyle Foster	3 September 2000	Vitória Guimarães
11	FW	Thakgalo Leshabela	18 September 1999	Leicester City
12	FW	James Monyane	30 April 2000	Orlando Pirates
13	DF	Keenan Phillips	7 February 2000	Bidvest Wits
14	MF	Luke Le Roux	10 March 2000	SuperSport United
15	MF	Siphesihle Mkhize	5 February 1999	Mamelodi Sundowns
16	GK	Glen Baadjies	27 March 2000	Mamelodi Sundowns
17	MF	Luvuyo Phewa	8 November 1999	Real Kings
18	FW	Leo Thethani	8 January 1999	Jong Ajax
19	MF	Kobamelo Kodisang	28 August 1999	Braga
20	GK	Khulekani Kubheka	7 January 1999	Cape Umoya
21	DF	Brendon Moloisane	24 February 1999	Mamelodi Sundowns

Notable former players

Players who have previously played for the under-20 team, and have since gone on to play for the senior team:

• Benni McCarthy
• Matthew Booth
• Thulani Serero
• Stanton Fredericks
• Thulani Hlatshwayo
• Darren Keet
• Andile Jali
• Junaid Hartley

Tournament records

FIFA U-20 World Cup record

U-20 World Cup
Hosts/Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1977-1993	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1995	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1997	Group Stage	20th	3	0	1	2	2	6
1999 to 2007	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2009	Round of 16	15th	4	1	1	2	5	8
2011	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2015	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2017	Group Stage	21st	3	0	1	2	1	4
2019	Group Stage	19th	3	0	1	2	3	7
2021	To be determined	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Round of 16	4/23	10	1	3	6	8	18

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations record

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1979 to 1993	Did not enter
1995	Did not qualify
1997	Second Place	5	2	1	2	5	5
1999	Did not qualify
2001	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	3	7
2003	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	3	7
2005	Did not qualify
2007	Did not qualify
2009	Fourth Place	5	2	0	3	8	9
2011	Group Stage	3	1	0	2	4	6
2013	Did not qualify
2015	Group Stage	3	1	0	2	6	6
2017	Fourth Place	5	2	0	4	10	9
2019	Third Place	5	1	3	0	2	2

COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup record

COSAFA U-20 Cup
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1983-1990	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1993	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	8	3
1995	Runners-up	5	1	3	1	3	3
1997	Unknown	?	?	?	?	?	?
1999	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	15	6
2000	Champions	5	4	1	0	6	1
2001	Unknown	?	?	?	?	?	?
2002	Unknown	?	?	?	?	?	?
2003	Unknown	?	?	?	?	?	?
2004	Champions	?	?	?	?	?	?
2005	Unknown	?	?	?	?	?	?
2006	Champions	?	?	?	?	?	?
2007	Runners-up	?	?	?	?	?	?
2008	Champions	?	?	?	?	?	?
2009	Champions	4	4	0	0	16	1
2010	Group Stage	2	0	0	2	1	4
2013	Champions	5	4	1	0	7	0
2016	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	16	2

References

1. "Under-20 National Team". Retrieved 3 January 2011.
2. "Amajita's 21-man FIFA WC squad announced". safa.net. SAFA. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

External links

• South Africa FA official website