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Chicago Fire defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi has been ruled out of action for the rest of the 2026 MLS season because of a thigh muscle tear in what is also a massive blow for Bafana Bafana.
Fire coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed on Thursday that Mbokazi suffered the injury at training when he returned from the 2026 Fifa World Cup where he helped Bafana reach the knockout stages.
Mbo being ruled out for the year is a tough one.
— Chicago Fire coach Gregg Berhalter
“Mbo being ruled out for the year is a tough one,” Berhalter told Apple TV.
“It’s really about the next person stepping up and being a team that’s hard to score on, closing the spaces, being compact. We’re working on that now and I think today you’re going to see that.”
Mbokazi, who played every minute of South Africa’s four matches at the World Cup in Mexico and the US, has been a revelation for Fire in his debut season, where he started 12 matches in the regular season.
He was named an MLS All-Star before he was forced to withdraw from the All-Star game due to the injury.
This is a headache for whoever is going to be the new Bafana coach, with Mbokazi set to miss Bafana’s crucial 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea in September, and back-to-back matches against Kenya in November.
TimesLIVE
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