Masindi Nemtajela in Bafana final squad for Zambia, Mduduzi Shabalala misses out

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has announced his final 23-man squad for the international friendly against Zambia scheduled for 15 November 2025. Broos has retained many players who featured in the team's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda recently, with nine Buccaneers featuring. However, he has handed a surprise call-up to Orlando Pirates star midfielder Masindi Nemtajela and Sekhukhune United midfielder Keletso Makgalwa. He has also left out Mduduzi Shabalala of Kaizer Chiefs. Addressing the media on Thursday (6 November), Broos said he wanted to assess Nemtajela in training following his recent scintillating form for the Bucs. He emphasised that Shabalala is not out of the picture completely. "That's why I said already that this is the moment we can try to introduce some other players, and Nemtajela made good performances in Pirates, so I had to call him and see how he is behaving himself in training and in the group," the Belgian mentor explained. "That's why Shabalala is not there. It's not a question of he's not playing good or I don't want him anymore. It's the last game [so] I can do such things, and this is the only reason. I just want to see Nemtajela in the team and see how he is behaving." See the full squad list below: The match will be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. It will be the senior men's team's last match before the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which is scheduled for 21 December 2025 until 18 January 2026 in Morocco.