Mbekezeli Mbokazi made a successful return from injury as he played 80 minutes for Chicago Fire in their Major League Soccer clash at Charlotte on Saturday, while his Bafana Bafana teammate Lyle Foster got his first outing at new club Houston Dynamo.
Mbokazi suffered a thigh tear in August, and the initial prognosis from his side was that he would be out for the rest of the season, but less than two months later, he was back for Chicago as they won 1-0 in North Carolina to remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with Johan Gómez scoring the second-half winner.
Foister moved from English club Burnley on loan until July next year at the start of the month but only got a first run-out on Saturday in a 2-0 home win to Sporting Kansas City.
Foster came on for the last 19 minutes of the game, by which time his side was already 2-0 down. Dynamo played the second half with 10 men after midfielder Héctor Herrera was shown a red card in first-half stoppage time.
Also on Saturday, former South Africa under-20 captain was on the bench for the first time for New England Revolution, where he has moved on loan from Queens Park Rangers, as they lost 3-0 away at Real Salt Lake.
It was Mbokazi’s first outing for his club since the 2-1 victory over Toronto FC on May 23 – his last match before representing South Africa at the World Cup.
“It felt great to have Mbo back. He definitely gives us a lot of confidence in the back line,” said goalkeeper Jos Cohen.
“I thought he did great. He was feeling good. It was nice to see him out there after a while, and especially after we thought he wouldn't be back this season.”
Mbokazi has been a revelation in his debut season with the Fire, starting each of his 12 regular-season appearances. Mbokazi's play earned him the most fan votes for the 2026 MLS All-Star Game, but injury forced him to miss the event.