Amajimbos ready to shine at FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar

Amajimbos coach Vela Khumalo confident as Amajimbos prepare for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar. The South African Under-17 men's national team, Amajimbos, have concluded their final training sessions in Johannesburg ahead of their departure to Qatar today for the FIFA U17 World Cup, which will take place from November 3 - 27, 2025. Coach Vela Khumalo's side wrapped up their home preparations on Wednesday afternoon after playing a warm-up match against the Kaizer Chiefs DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) team. Reflecting on the performance, Khumalo said he was pleased with what he saw but admitted that there were still areas for improvement. "Even though we played very, very well against Kaizer Chiefs, a strong DDC team that is going to Manchester, we cannot get carried away because we played well here. There are certain things that we still need to work on," said Khumalo. Khumalo expressed confidence in the squad he has selected, saying he believes the team will grow stronger as the tournament progresses. The Amajimbos will open their World Cup campaign against Bolivia on Monday. The coach said he has been studying their opponents and remains optimistic about the team's chances. "I think from what I saw, and I've been following Bolivia and the other teams, I think we stand a good chance of coming out of the group if we can apply ourselves." "We can get out of the group from what I saw. But you never know if that was the true reflection of the teams or they were still preparing. But honestly speaking, we stand a good chance of going out of the group," said Khumalo. The South African youngsters have been in camp in Johannesburg for the past few days, as part of their final phase of preparation. Prior to that, they played a friendly match against Malawi away from home on Sunday. Amajimbos will be hoping to make the nation proud when they take on the world's best young talents in Qatar.