20 October 2026 – The newly-assembled South African U16 Boys National Team has returned from a successful tour of Germany where they were preparing for the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival scheduled to be played in Azerbaijan from 24-30 October 2026.
During their time in Germany, the squad visited FC Augsburg and SC Bielefeld Academy as part of the SAFA/Bundesliga Dream Activation 2026, which is a youth development programme designed to offer young players a first-hand experience within the Bundesliga Youth Development system.
The South Africans had the chance to train at the Paul Renz Academy and got to meet first team top players, Juma Bah and Chrislain Matsima at the WWK Arena, the home of FC Augsburg.
The next stop was Bielefeld where they also did a stadium tour and attended a match where DSC Arminia Bielefeld was playing. South Africa featured in two matches, defeating FC Augsburg 2-0 and then rounded off their trip with a 5-0 triumph over Arminia Bielefeld.
In addition to the many training sessions at both academies, the technical team got a chance to share notes with their counterparts. As a cherry on top, former Bafana Bafana player Delron Buckley, who used to be on the books of Bielefeld, and is now the ambassador for the club, also paid the squad a visit to convey messages of encouragement ahead of the upcoming FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival.
The South Africans will fly out to Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 21 October 2026.
SA U16 Boys Results:
- FC Augsburg (U16) 0 – 2 South Africa U16
- Arminia Bielefeld U16 0 – 5 South Africa U16
Source: Original report at SAFA.
