The South African U17 men’s squad sealed passage to the U17 FIFA World Cup in Qatar despite a 2-0 defeat to Burkina Faso in their final Group B clash on Sunday evening at Laarbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.
Vela Khumalo’s charges needed to avoid defeat against the Burkinabes and had Egypt to thank for a favour after the Pharaohs beat Cameroon 2-1 ensuring that Amajimbos booked their ticket on the plane to the World Cup.
South Africa got the chance to open the scoring in the 23rd minute after being awarded a penalty following a foul in the box on Emile Witbooi. Neo Bohloko stepped up but missed his spot kick.
Lwandiso Radebe was in fine form just like he did in the previous match against Cameroon making countless saves to keep the Burkinabe attack at bay as the sides headed into the half-time break deadlocked at 0-0.
Amajimbos were jubilant when they were awarded another penalty in the 48th minute, but after careful consultation, VAR overturned the decision with Bohloko penalized for fouling the Burkinabe defender.
The group leaders piled pressure on the South African defence and saw their efforts paid off by capitalizing on a back pass as Bara Junior slotted past Radebe to make it 1-0.
In the 89th minute, it was 2-0 to Burkina Faso as Tapsoba’s thunderous low strike beat a hapless Radebe.
This is only South Africa’s fourth time into the knockout stages at AFCON as they are also off to the World Cup for the first time since 2015.
A record 10 African nations from the tournament will qualify for the 48-team 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup that will be staged in Qatar from 5-27 November, 2025.
