Puso Dithejane has been called up to the senior South African national team ahead of this month’s African Cup of Nations qualifying matches.
South Africa play Guinea on September 26th in Johannesburg and Eritrea on September 30th in Cairo in 2027 AFCON qualifying, followed by an October 4 friendly against Egypt in Cairo.
Dithejane, 22, joined the Chicago Fire ahead of this season on a transfer from TS Galaxy of the South African PSL. A tricky and confident winger, Dithejane originally signed an Under-22 initiative contract and is now a senior roster player for the Fire.
Excluding the COSAFA Cup in 2023 and 2025, where he appeared six times, this is Dithejane's first senior appearance for Bafana Bafana. He has mostly been involved with the youth teams previously. The winger was on the extended provisional roster for the FIFA World Cup earlier this summer in the United States, but he did not make the final squad.
The call-up does have major implications for the Fire, as it guarantees Dithejane will miss next week's game against Charlotte FC. It also raises questions about his availability for the game against the Vancouver Whitecaps on October 6th, as he will have been playing in Cairo two days prior.
Across all competitions, Dithejane has 23 appearances for the Fire this season, scoring four goals and contributing one assist. All four goals have come since the World Cup break, with two coming in a historic Leagues Cup win over Mexican champion Cruz Azul last month. He also scored in away matches against Inter Miami and Orlando City.
Mbekezeli Mbokazi is absent from this South Africa squad because of the injury that has kept him out since mid-July, meaning Dithejane is the only current Fire player in Pitso Mosimane’s first squad back as manager. Mbokazi is a regular for Bafana, having played every minute of their AFCON campaign last winter and World Cup Round of 32 run this summer. He is expected to return to play for the Fire before the end of 2026.
