Siyabonga Ngezana thrusts himself in World Cup picture

After weeks of uncertainty, South Africa national team defender Siyabonga Ngezana has finally thrust himself into the 2026 FIFA World Cup selection picture.

After being sidelined by an injury for many months, there is compelling evidence that the Bafana Bafana star has now recovered fully at his Romanian SuperLiga side FCSB.

𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗭𝗔𝗡𝗔 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗔 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗚 🇿🇦

Moment of magic as Siyabonga Ngezana gets hold of an SA flag from the crowd during FCSB celebrations last night.🇿🇦

FCSB progressed to the last 16 in Europa League where they will face either Lyon🇫🇷 or E.Frankfurt🇩🇪… pic.twitter.com/jy1EOBNbBo

— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) February 21, 2025

Ngezana was an unused substitute for the Romanian SuperLiga champions when they lost 3-2 to FC Botosani on Friday in Group C play-off at Municipality Stadium.

How Botosani beat FCSB with Ngezana on bench

FC Botosani won the game courtesy of a double from Hervin Ongenga and Sebastian Mailat’s strike while Darius Olaru and Florin Tanase were on target for FCSB.

The visitors finished the game with 10 men after Mihai Lizandu received a red card in the 88th minute. Malawian midfielder Charles Petro was in the starting line-up for Botosani.

Focus was on the former Kaizer Chiefs star after he missed many games for club and country ahead of the World Cup.

Irony of Ngezana and FC Botosani

Ironically, Ngezana made the playing squad on Friday against the same Botosani, he picked up a meniscus injury during a warm-up on 5 February.

Earlier, FCSB coach Elias Charalambous had suggested that the South African would be unavailable for action for a lengthy period.

𝗙𝗖𝗦𝗕 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗨𝗖𝗟

Siyabonga Ngezana played 75mins of FCSB 2nd leg defeat to Shkëndija in the UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round. ❌

They exit the UCL and will play in the Europa League qualifying rounds. pic.twitter.com/exoknGaF0u

— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) July 30, 2025

Consequently, the former Kaizer Chiefs man could not make it for Bafana Bafana’s recent friendly against Panama. Now the ball is in the hands of coach Hugo Broos to assess the readiness of Ngezana ahead of the World Cup in June.

Last year, Ngezana made the cut for the Romania SuperLiga Team of the Year 2024-25 after winning the league championship with FCSB for the second consecutive season. He joined the best XI alongside four team-mates.

The 27-year-old made 41 appearances across all competitions and scored once in the just-ended season. To cap it all, the former Chiefs star was voted FCSB’s Defender of the Year in a poll involving the club’s fans.

Ngezana earned the most votes (96.1 percent), shrugging off competition from Risto Radunović (2 percent), Mihai Popescu (1.3 percent), and Valentin Crețu (0.2 percent). FCSB social media platforms show that some 2,521 fans cast the votes.