South Africa’s Under-17 national team will be out to seal a place in the knockout stage when they take on Italy in their last match at the Fifa World Cup on Sunday.
Amajimbos, who earned a valuable 1-1 draw against hosts Qatar in Doha on Thursday night, go into the last match of Group A in second place with four points.
Italy have accumulated six points from their two wins while Qatar have a point and are outsiders to progress to the next stage.
“It was not the result we were anticipating but we knew we were playing against the hosts and we were well aware of how they wanted to play,” said coach Vela Khumalo.
Coach Vela Khumalo reflects on Amajimbos' group match against FIFA U17 Men's World Cup hosts Qatar. pic.twitter.com/nzmPZE9iPk
— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) November 7, 2025
“We made our analysis and this is exactly how we thought they would approach the game. If you look at the goal we conceded, it was from our own mistake.
“Other than that, they sat at the back and were hoping to play from transition. Their plan worked, they stuck to it, congratulations to them,” said Khumalo.
He said he wants an improved performance on Sunday because of what is at stake.
“I also think we were not really aggressive or showed a bit of individual brilliance. It was not our day, we were not really on the ball and we got a draw.”
TimesLIVE
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