Amajita March Into U20 World Cup Knockout Stage After Impressive Win Over USA

• South Africa have secured a place in the next round at the ongoing 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile
• Amajita defeated the high-flying United States of America side in the last group game to book a spot in the Round of 16
• A Mamelodi Sundowns youngster impressed with his performance for Raymond Maka charges on Sunday evening

Amajita sealed their place in the knockout stage of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup after securing a crucial 2-1 victory over the USA in their decisive Group E clash at Estadio El Teniente on Sunday.

The USA initially took the lead through Noah Cobb before a Joshua Wynder own goal levelled matters for South Africa.

Mamelodi Sundowns star Gomolemo Kekana then struck the decisive winner to seal a 2-1 victory, propelling Amajita to second place in Group E, level on six points with leaders USA, while France trailed behind after three matches.

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Amajita lost their first match in the competition against France but followed it up with an impressive 5-0 win over New Caledonia in their second group game.

Amajita beat USA at U-20 World Cup

Raymond Mdaka, who wanted a positive result against the Americans, made just one change to the lineup that started in the win over New Caledonia, with Thato Sibiya coming in for Langlihle Phili.

Amajita had an early opportunity to take the lead within the opening five minutes through Siviwe Magidigidi, but the opposition defence stood firm to deny him from getting on the scoresheet.

At South Africa's end, Fletcher Lowe was called into action in the ninth minute, producing a save to keep Marcos Zambrano’s effort out of his goal.

Just three minutes after Zambrano's effort, the Americans took the lead from a set-piece, as Matthew Corcoran put in a cross into the box and Cobb made no mistake in putting the ball in the net.

America's advantage lasted just five minutes, as Sibiya delivered a cross into the box intended for Magidigidi, only for the ball to deflect off Joshua Wynder and into his own net, levelling the score.

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Amajita then took the lead on the stroke of half-time, with Mfundo Vilakazi finding Shakeel April in space and the Cape Town forward setting up Kekana to score, sending South Africa into the break with a 2-1 lead.

USA nearly drew level just two minutes into the second half when captain Benjamin Cremaschi tested Fletcher Lowe, who made a crucial save. Lowe was again called into action in the 65th minute, denying Zambrano for the second time in the match.

Late in the game, Kekana had a chance to make it 3-1 for Amajita from a Shakeel April cross, but Adam Beaudry was in the right place to deny the Sundowns midfielder.

South Africa will face either Colombia or the Flying Eagles of Nigeria in the next round of the competition, with a place in the quarter-final up for grabs.

Broos comments on Bafana's point deduction

Briefly News also reported that Hugo Broos has broken his silence after Bafana Bafana were docked three points for fielding an ineligible player.

The coach addressed questions of responsibility, explaining where the blame lies and how the team plans to move forward after the controversial ruling.

Source: Briefly News